Cambodia's Diamond Bridge Reopens after Stampede Kills over 353 People

http://english.ntdtv.com/

via CAAI

The mayor of Cambodia’s capital, Phnom Penh, led a blessing ceremony to reopen the Diamond Bridge on Wednesday. It comes two weeks after a stampede during a water festival at the bridge killed over 350 people and injured at least 700.

Buddhist monks held a religious ceremony hoping to cleanse the bridge from any bad omens before it was reopened.

[Kep Chutema, Mayor, Phnom Penh]:

"We are doing this blessing ceremony in our traditional way, the same kind as at weddings and all kinds of Buddhist ceremonies. So we chose this auspicious day to reopen this Diamond Bridge to the public again."

Cambodians started using the bridge again once it was opened.

[Suong Ly, Phnom Penh Resident]:

"I feel normal. I took my three children on the bridge and it's normal. There was nothing to be scared of."

But others worried another incident could still happen.

[Sles Sy, Worker on Diamond Island]:

"I am happy that this bridge is opened again. And I think it's good if people only travel in a one-way system, but it would cause problems again if they allow people to use it the same way as they did during the water festival."

City authorities and the Diamond Island Company have agreed to build two more bridges, making them one-way only to prevent another disaster.

The Diamond Bridge stampede is one of the biggest tragedies for Cambodia since the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, in which 1.7 million people were killed.