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Cambodian Buddhist monks and officials pray for victims near the site where people stampeded during Monday's water festival in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Heng Sinith/AP/Press Association Images
Cambodia
Death toll rises after Cambodian festival stampede
Thursday declared national day of mourning as over 340 people die on bridge in Phnom Penh.
THE NUMBER OF PEOPLE KILLED in a stampede at the Water Festival in Cambodia on Monday has risen to at least 345, according to Reuters.
The death toll arising from the country’s biggest tragedy since the Khmer Rouge reign of terror in the 1970s is expected to rise as the search continues for missing persons.
Around 400 people were injured, but the cause of the stampede on the Diamond Gate bridge in Phnom Penh is still not clear.
Some eyewitnesses said they saw people pushing onto the bridge before the stampede began. Others said police began firing water cannon at the crowds, which caused people to be electrocuted from wires running through the bridge.
The country has declared a national day of mourning on Thursday, according to the BBC, as the first funerals for victims were held.
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