Happy Khmer New Year: Fire in Russey Keo, thousands homeless
Apr 12th, 2008 by Jinja
In the States, the White House schedules press conferences for Fridays when the topic is one negative to the administration.
In Cambodia, it seems, negative actions are taken just before the holidays so people will be caught off guard. Activist Khem Sokha was arrested on New Years’ Eve, 2005.
And just as Khmer New Year begins, the Russey Keo area has experienced a devastating fire, with over 200 homes burned, taking several hours to extinguish. Agence France Presse estimates ‘thousands’ are now homeless. We’ll never know for sure if it was an accident, or intentional; but the timing stinks. Organizations addressing housing issues such as LICADHO, Bridges Across Borders and Teang Tnaut will tell you that this is not the first community that has experienced a fire as residents attempt to assert their rights.
I will continue to update information on this post as more news comes in. (Thanks to local1x for YouTube footage, above photos are video screengrabs.)
Fire: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbYStJWwjYs
Aftermath: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDuGiCdmBsQ
http://www.nationalpost.com/news/story.html?id=439391
http://www.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2008-04/11/content_6610874.htm
http://www.reuters.com/news/pictures/slideshow?collectionId=1751&galleryName=All%20Collections#a=1
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-04/11/content_7962258.htm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1868532.stm
http://www.voanews.com/khmer/080411-fire.cfm
http://australianetwork.com/news/stories_to/2214833.htm
http://asiasentinel.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=1155&Itemid=31
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=520&Itemid=52
Blog Posts:
http://www.vuthasurf.com/2008/04/11/blaze-welcomes-new-year/
http://imsokthy.com/2008/04/10/about-60-houses-burned-this-morning/
http://www.voanews.com/khmer/2008-04-16-voa9.cfm
http://detailsaresketchy.wordpress.com/2008/04/17/crossing-the-red-cross/
I saw this fire while i was driving to my workplace.
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