Hundreds die in Cambodia festival stampede [-Death toll to 339]

A crowd of Cambodians are pushed onto a bridge on the last day of celebrations of a water festival in Phnom Penh on Monday. Thousands of people celebrating a water festival on a small island in a Cambodian river stampeded Monday evening, killing at least 190. (Heng Sinith / AP)

Most of the victims were crushed or drowned; hundreds more injured

2010-11-22
By SOPHENG CHEANG
The Associated Press

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia — Thousands of Cambodians celebrating a water festival on an island in a river in the capital stampeded Monday night, leaving at least 339 dead and many more injured. As the panic grew, the crowd tried to flee over a bridge, and many fell over its sides into the water.

Ambulances raced back and forth between the river and the hospitals for several hours after the stampede, while onlookers and relatives waited outside the medical facilities. Many of the injured appeared to be badly hurt, raising the prospect that the death toll could rise sharply as local hospitals could easily become overwhelmed.

Thousands of Cambodians celebrating a water festival on an island in a river in the capital stampeded Monday night, leaving hundreds dead and many more injured.

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