Police have recovered the bodies of three teachers inside a cave near Samnanh village in Battambang province.
Province police chief Heng Chantha said he believed that Um Kimhuong, 27, Kuch Sopheap, 29, and Try Chasaraneath, 33, drowned in a pond in the cave. The deaths appear to be an accident, he added.
It appeared the trio drowned while swimming in a pond that led from one cave to another in Banan district, the chief said.
According to what villagers told police, the victims attended a concert last Tuesday night and drank a few cans of beer together. When nobody saw them the next day, dozens of investigators undertook a search that turned up three pairs of shoes left at the edge of a cave.
Authorities pumped the pond and found the three bodies.
The villagers said it was not unusual for the teachers to swim in the cave in daylight, but they did not usually go at night.
“No wound on any spot of the bodies was found that would point to a murder,” Heng Chantha said. “Authorities concluded that they drowned.”
The cave, on Trung Tea Mountain, is considered sacred by villagers who visit, hoping for a blessing that will bring good luck.
