Cambodia records 44 landmine casualties in 4 months, down 48 pct

June 03, 2013
Xinhua

Cambodia reported 44 landmine casualties in the first four months of 2013, down 48 percent from 85 casualties over the same period last year, according to a government report on Monday.

During the January-April period this year, only four people were killed and 40 were injured or amputated, while during the same period last year, 19 people were killed and 66 were injured or amputated, said the report of the Cambodian Mine and Explosive Remnants of War Victim Information System.

According to the report, since 1979 to April this year, some 19, 666 people had been killed by landmines and 44,581 others either injured or amputated.

The country is one of the nations that suffer badly from landmines. An estimated 4 million to 6 million landmines and other munitions were left over from three decades of war and internal conflicts that ended in 1998.

As of last year, the country had cleared and destroyed about 3 million landmines and unexploded ordnances, said Heng Ratana, director general of the Cambodian Mine Action Center, adding that the nation is expected to completely eliminate landmines by 2020.