Technical issue, extreme heat blamed for Cambodia’s ammunition explosion

A technical issue combined with an extreme heatwave was blamed for a series of explosions at a military base that killed 20 soldiers and injured several others in Cambodia on April 27, the country’s Ministry of Defence said in a May 2 statement as reported by the Xinhua news agency.
Hanoi (VNA) - A technical issue combined with anextreme heatwave was blamed for a series of explosions at a military base thatkilled 20 soldiers and injured several others in Cambodia on April 27, thecountry’s Ministry of Defence said in a May 2 statement as reported by theXinhua news agency.

"After a direct probe at the scene, the investigatorsfrom the Ministry of Defence found that the incident of the ammunitionexplosion on April 27, 2024, at the Third Regional Military Command in KampongSpeu province was a technical issue because the weapons were old and faulty,and the weather was hot," the statement said as cited by Xinhua.

The ministry rejected fake news spread by the extremistopposition that claimed the blast was caused by rebellious soldiers or an actof terrorism.

Lieutenant General Yoeung Sokhon, commander of the command, said in a recent report that four buildings, three ammunitionwarehouses and one office facility were totally destroyed and several militarytrucks damaged during the blast. Twenty-five villagers' homes near the militarybase were also ruined.

Chan Yutha, a spokesman and secretary of state for the CambodianMinistry of Water Resources and Meteorology, said last week that the countryhad recorded the highest-ever temperature in about 170 years./.
VNA

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