A total of 20 Cambodian soldiers were killed in the explosion of an ammunition warehouse in a military base in the west of the country, Prime Minister Hun Manet announced today.
The explosion, in which several other soldiers were injured, took place this afternoon at a military base in Kampong Speu province, Hun Manet wrote on Facebook, without giving other details.
The cause of the explosion is not yet known.
Pictures on social media show the collapsed one-story building in a cloud of smoke.
The Cambodian Prime Minister ordered the Ministry of Defense and the Supreme Commander of the Army to take over the organization of the funeral of the fallen soldiers.
Hun Manet, 46, who graduated from the US Military Academy at West Point, was promoted to the rank of four-star general shortly before he was elected prime minister in 2023, succeeding his autocratic father Hun Sen, 71, who ruled for 38 years.
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