Boat capsizes, killing 4 in Northwest Cambodia

PHNOM PENH, Oct. 2 (Xinhua) -- A man and three children were killed in a boat sinking on Saturday evening in Battambang province's Ek Phnom district, some 291 kilometers Northwestern Cambodia, police said Sunday.

Yeam Bunlerb, police chief of Ek Phnom district, said that the boat carried more than 10 people to make sightseeing tour in a flood over-flown large lake in the district and when the boat was on the way home, it met torrential rain and wind, causing the boat to capsize.

He said that at the time, other boat operators had tried to help the victims, but four of them were missing.

The dead victims included a father Roeum Virak, 38, and his two daughters Roeum Raksa, 6, and Roeum Charya, 4, as well as his nephew Thy Bunthim, 8.

Cambodia has been hard-hit by the Mekong River and flash floods since Aug. 13.

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Saturday at least 148 people were reported dead in the Mekong River and flash floods hitting Cambodia from August 13 to Sept. 30. Of the dead, 52 were children.