CAMBODIA: 'We only had one son..… now he’s gone'

Mr Hoeum Chet, Chisang village, Battambang

MAG is currently clearing the village of Chisang in Battambang province, thanks to funding from World Vision. This story from local man Hoeum Chet, who watched his son die when a friend began playing with a B-40 rocket in the village, underlines the continuing importance of MAG's work in the country...

“I had a son…he was 16 years old when he was killed in an explosion last year.

"I was told that the land next to mine was full of landmines when I arrived here in 1998. When my son in law started clearing the vegetation, he was slightly injured in an explosion.

MAG in Chisang village

To date, MAG has found and destroyed eight items of unexploded ordnance and searched approximately 50,000 square metres of land. When completed, this clearance will benefit 33 households (about 160 people altogether). After the clearance work is completed, World Vision will undertake community development work.

"I also had to take the risk so that I could build a small house. However, before I went in, I told my wife and my children not to come near – that way, if an accident happened it might only take my life, and she could carry on and take care of our children.

"I am very lucky to be alive. While I was clearing vegetation I found four mines on the land behind my house. I don’t know where they are now. All of us are very worried about the presence of mines under the ground, which we can’t see but which may take our lives or limbs someday. Since my son and his friend died, I always pray and hope that there won’t be any other accidents in my village.

"I remember that day so well – May 26, 2008. My son had gone to tend the cattle as usual; my wife was out harvesting. After lunch, I was having a rest when I heard a big bang. A neighbour came to tell me that my son had been in a landmine accident. I jumped up and ran to the scene. The whole village was panic-stricken.

"It was only about 300 metres from my house. When I got there I saw my son lying on the ground, burned black. His eyes were completely gone. Parts of his face, chest and neck had been blown off and his abdomen was torn apart. The explosion didn’t kill him instantly. My son could only say a few words to ask for help; then he stopped breathing.

Mr Hoeum Chet and his wife outisde their home in Chisang, and (top photo) at work.

[Photos: MAG Cambodia]

"His friend also died with him that day. I saw him on the ground, with both his arms blown off and his legs mangled, hanging off his body. He was conscious for almost five minutes before he died.

"Watching them die before my eyes was so shocking and frightening, I couldn’t speak. I had an unbearable pain in my chest. The villagers helped to carry their bodies to my house for a joint funeral. The bodies were cremated at the same time and their graves are behind my house.

"I was told that it was B-40 rocket which killed my son and his friend. They were in a field where the rocket had been found 10 years ago. The landowner had put it on a tree and warned the children not to play with it.

"However, when my son heard there was UXO [unexploded ordnance] about he usually went looking for it. He liked the challenge of defusing UXO and taking the explosives out for fishing. On the day of the accident, he wasn’t trying to defuse the rocket, but was watching as his friend threw the rocket against the tree.

"My wife and I always told him “Don’t play with mines or UXO, be careful! They can kill you!” We often warned him that if an accident happened we wouldn’t help him. Of course that was just a threat to make him give it up. Sometimes when he took the explosives out I would hear a big bang. I would run to him and shout at him. “Why did you do that?” I would ask. He always lied to me and said that he did not do it.

"We only had one son….now he’s gone. War has brought only serious problems for families like ours and the whole country. We live with constant pain in our souls.

"In the future we don’t want to see war happen again. We want to see cleared land, electricity for all, many roads, schools, hospitals with good medicine and good equipment, factories, and tractors for farming.”

– Mr Hoeum Chet, Chisang village, Battambang

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