Floods kill 8, damage fields in Cambodia

Cambodian military police drop sand bags on the edge of a flooded road in the outskirts of Phnom Penh. Picture / Reuters

Torrential rains swelling the annual Mekong floods have killed at least eight Cambodians and damaged several thousand hectares of paddy fields, officials said yesterday.

The Government was seeking United Nations help to get food to thousands of villagers made homeless by the floods, said Nhim Vanda, deputy chairman of the national disaster committee.

Cambodia's Red Cross had distributed food to nearly 10,000 people in the southern province of Kampot, the hardest hit, but others were still awaiting help, said provincial governor Thach Khorn.

He said the floods could be beneficial in the long term as they were bringing in fertile marsh soil. The floods also damaged roads, bridges and schools, officials said.

- REUTERS