Cambodia floods death toll reaches 300

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Cambodia floods death toll reaches 300

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Massive flooding and landslides have killed nearly 300 people in Cambodia in the last two months.

14 October,2011 04:09 pm

Kien Klang village, along the Mekong River in Cambodia, is one of those most affected by the worst floods to hit the country in more than a decade.On Friday the prime minister announced that flooding and landslides from heavy monsoon rains have killed 247 over the past two months.Around half of the casualties were children, unable to swim to safety after flash-floods. Although the waters have begun to recede, villagers are still struggling.“I received some donations like canned fish, instant noodles, etcetera, recently from the Cambodian Red Cross. So I ate those for a while, but now they are finished. It’s difficult to move around and make a living. There are no people coming to sell things to us, and sometimes I dont even have the money to buy things because of the floods.”Seventeen out of Cambodias 23 provinces have been hit by the floods.More than one thousand schools have been affected, and over 300,000 hectares of the countrys rice fields inundated. The prime minister has said he will cancel Cambodias annual water festival this year in response to the disaster.