Man killed during illegal gold mine operation in M’kiri
MONDULKIRI provincial police are searching for a group of suspects accused of illegally mining gold after a member was killed in a mine shaft in Chung Phlas commune’s Pu Tung village in Keo Seima district, on Monday.
The prov incia l police chief in charge of serious crimes unit, Hou Dara, told The Post on Thursday that a week ago, a group of v i l lagers from Kratie prov ince contacted a man named Doem Vanda from Pu Tung and together t hey illega lly mined gold in t he area.
At 10 :30am on Monday, v illagers witnessed Vanda and four ot her migrant workers quiet ly leav ing t he mine shaft. They investigated and found a man’s body i n the shaft. Authorities were a lerted immediately.
Dara said the v ictim was 35-year-old Soeun Linath from Chroy Banteay commune’s Khach Tob v illage, in Kratie prov ince’s Prek Prasap dist rict.
Linath’s body was examined by officials who discovered that he sustained an injury to the back of his head and fell. Authorities gave the victim’s body to his family to conduct the last rites.
“However, authorities have not yet concluded if this was a murder or work-related accident caused by the victim’s negligence. It was an illegal gold mining operation,” Dara said.
He said at this time, police are searching for Vanda and his partners to detain them for questioning.
Keo Seima district governor Nuon Saran told The Post t hat last year, t he aut horities banned a ll family businesses involv ing gold mining in Pu Tung v illage due to rampant unauthorised mining.
Workers lives’ were often threatened because they didn’t have the technical knowledge to carry out mining activities properly.
He said a lmost a ll t he gold mines in the area were filled by prov incia l aut horities and officia ls. Some of t he prev ious owners of the mine shafts requested to demolish and fill them on their own.
“The death of a worker in the mine shaft is probably a work-related accident, not a crime,” Saran said.
He said the mine shaft where the incident occurred has not yet been filled. Aut horities have erected a fence to preser ve ev idence pending further examination by prov incia l experts.