PHNOM PENH, July 14 (Xinhua) -- A war-left anti-tank mine had exploded, killing a farm owner in northwest Cambodia's Battambang province, a mine clearance chief said on Monday.
Heng Ratana, director-general of the Cambodian Mine Action Center (CMAC), said the blast happened late Sunday afternoon at a farm in Rotanak Mondol district's Rasmey Sangha village when the ill-fated man was operating a tractor to plough his own farm.
The tractor accidentally ran over the anti-tank landmine, triggering the explosion, which completely destroyed the power tiller, he said.
"The incident amputated one of the tractor driver's legs and he was later declared dead in the hospital," Ratana wrote in a Facebook post.
Cambodia is one of the countries worst affected by landmines and explosive remnants of war (ERW). An estimated 4 million to 6 million landmines and other munitions had been left over from three decades of war and internal conflicts that ended in 1998.
According to Yale University, between 1965 and 1973, the United States had dropped some 230,516 bombs on 113,716 sites in Cambodia.
A Cambodian official report showed that from 1979 to June 2025, landmine and ERW explosions had claimed 19,843 lives and maimed 45,267 others.
The Southeast Asian country is committed to clearing all types of landmines and ERWs by 2030. ■
