Floods force Cambodians onto rafts

  • 12 years ago
ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
STORY: Flood waters continued to inundate parts of Cambodia, forcing villagers in Phnom Penh to travel by raft.
Floods and landslides from monsoon rains have so far killed at least 247 in Cambodia.
Around half of the casualties were children, unable to swim to safety after flash-floods.
Eighteen out of Cambodia's 23 provinces are suffering the impact of the worst flooding to hit the country in more than a decade, the Council of Ministers' spokesman said.
In Meanchey district, in Phnom Penh, the waters have begun to recede but villagers are still using rafts and boats to move around.
About 1.5 million people have been affected by the floods. About 2,000 schools and 20,000 hectares of rice fields were damaged by rising waters in 18 provinces, said Gnim Wanta, the Cambodian deputy chief of the National Committee for Disaster management.