A bomb that exploded and killed seven Cambodian de-miners in north-western Battambang province last week was a forgotten Khmer Rouge booby trap, an official said Monday. Battambang chief of the Cambodian Mine Action Center, Keo Sarath, said the device consisted of three anti-tank mines wired together, creating a massive blast when it was accidentally triggered. "It was an old Khmer Rouge set-up," he said. The device, which exploded on January 19 while the men were attempting to demine the area, could have been laid any time before 1993, when fighting in the area was at its peak. Investigators said the dismembered bodies of the de-miners were thrown more than 200 metres by the massive blast.
Cambodia remains one of the most mined countries on the planet following nearly three decades of civil war.