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Cambodian authorities struggle to deal with aftermath of yesterday's water festival stampede which left 395 dead
As police pore over the scene for evidence and relatives wait for the answer that is now inevitable, still no one is quite sure why there were so many people on the Rainbow Bridge, on the banks of the Tonle Sap river in Phnom Penh last night.
The Cambodian capital today swirls with rumours about what caused the stampede which trapped thousands on the short, narrow suspension bridge. At least 395 people were killed in the panic, either suffocated in the crush or drown having fallen unconscious into the water. More than 500 were injured.
Prime Minister Hun Sen described the stampede as the biggest disaster the country had experienced since the mass killings of the Khmer Rouge regime. He declared Thursday a national day of mourning and ordered all government ministries to fly the Cambodian flag at half-mast.
Some at the scene yesterday said the crush started when speculation swept the tightly packed crowd that the bridge was about to collapse. Some have reported seeing the bridge bouncing under the weight of thousands of people.
Others said the panic was caused by the multi-coloured lights strung from the suspension ropes sparking, a rumour of food poisoning or a gang of youths robbing people in the crowd.
The bridge was supposed to be only one way for people to leave Diamond Island. Another bridge 200 metres away was for people going to the island, but the Rainbow Bridge was closer to the music and the festival on the cityside banks of the river.
Just before 10pm, when celebrations were in full swing, the panic began, with those trapped on the bridge fighting to find a way clear and shouting for help from those from the banks.
Those who fell or lost consciousness were crushed under hundreds of feet as people fought to find a way out of the crush.
Diamond Island, named for its shape, is a small sliver of land that sits close to the bank of the Tonle Sap. Previously just another nameless island in the wide, brown river, it has been developed in the past couple of years into a shopping and entertainment precinct.
Rainbow Bridge, is barely 40 metres long, and brand new. The suspension bridge was only built this year, and the public have only been allowed on it for the three days of water festival.
Monday was supposed to have been a happy night: Bon Om Touk, Cambodia's water festival, is the biggest party of the year here, when the normally sleepy city of Phnom Penh is swelled by more than a million visitors, international tourists coming for the parties and the boat races and Cambodian visitors arriving from the provinces to give thanks for the end of the rainy season.
The city was full, there were market stalls and music, vendors and partygoers crowding every available inch of space.
This morning, Cambodian time, Rainbow Bridge was still littered with thousands of shoes, shirts and hats, left behind in the panic that consumed those on the bridge.
Several thousand people are crowded around, on both sides of the river, held back by police tape and roadblocks manned by armed soldiers.
On the river's banks, family members of the victims make Buddhist offerings and pray for those lost.
At the nearby Calmette hospital, Cambodia's largest, a makeshift open-air morgue has been laid out in the hospital grounds.
Inside a large white tent, the bodies of those killed are laid out in lines on straw mats. Those identified are covered with a white sheet, while those unknown are left exposed as flies buzz constantly in Cambodia's stifling heat.
Family members who have found the body of a loved one sit by it, waiting for the paperwork to be completed so they can take their relative home.
Boupha Lak sits at her daughter's feet, gently stroking them.
"She went to the festival to see her friends, but she was alone on the bridge when it happened – her friends, I have seen today, they were on the other side. She was found on the bridge, crushed underneath all the other bodies. They told me she was on the bottom."
Crude coffins, lined with wallpaper begin arriving in army trucks. They will be given to the family members of victims, along with the offer of transport to take their loved ones home.
"Most of those killed were not from Phnom Penh, they were from the provinces," a policeman, who declines to give his name, tells the Guardian.
"They had not seen the bridge because it is new, they wanted to see it, and to walk on it.
"And they didn't know the river was not deep," he says, pointing to his hip to indicate the depth of the river. "The river was okay to stand, but they don't know about this because they are not from Phnom Penh, and they think it is a big river and they cannot swim."
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