1 dies, 3 injured in old mine explosion in eastern Cambodia

One man was killed on the spot and three others sustained injuries after a truck, carrying roof tiles, ran onto an old anti-tank mine in eastern Tboung Khmum province, local police chief confirmed Saturday. The accident occurred at a rural path in Memot district when the truck moved onto the mine on Friday afternoon, Eng Penghak, police chief of Memot district, said. "A conductor was killed immediately as a driver was critically injured and two other workers were slightly hurt," he said. Cambodia is one of the world's worst countries affected by mines as the result of three decades of war and internal conflicts from the mid-1960s to 1998. According to a government report, from 1979 to March 2014, landmines and unexploded ordnance had killed 19,693 people and injured or amputated 44,681 others. The country is seeking around 50 million U.S. dollars a year until 2020 to entirely get rid of all types of anti-personnel mines, according to Heng Ratana, director general of the Cambodian Mine Action Center.