Sustained floods claim more lives (Updated)

Photo by: Sovan Philong
The body of a 23-year-old drowning victim is carried to an ambulance in Dangkor district yesterday morning.

via CAAI

Tuesday, 19 October 2010 21:50 Buth Reaksmey Kongkea

Three more people have drowned as a result of recent flooding and the government has warned that tailwinds from Typhoon Megi, which is currently crossing the Philippines, are expected to hit coastal areas of Cambodia this weekend.

Prak Vuthy, Kampong Chnnang deputy police chief, said the body of a 30-year-old woman had been found after she reportedly fell from a boat into the flood roughly 30 metres from her house on Monday.

In Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district, deputy police chief Chhin Ra said the body of a 23-year-old man was found in floodwaters in Spean Thma village on Monday.

“The victim was drunk, and he drove his motorbike to the flooded area to swim,” he said.

“At the same location, two boys were rescued.”

Meanwhile, Ung Rina, deputy director of the Department of Water Resources and Meteorology at the Ministry of Water Resources and Meteorology, has said that tailwinds from Typhoon Megi would hit the coasts of Sihanoukville, Kep and Kampot on October 23.

“According to our predictions, the new typhoon will be crossing the Philippines’ western areas on October 19 and 20, and it will pass China’s southern areas from October 24 to 26,” he said.

“The Megi typhoon will slightly hit Cambodia’s coastal areas with strong winds and storms from October 23 to 25 as it passes China’s southern areas.”

Keo Vy said the government was “worried” that the typhoon would add to damage already caused by the recent floods.