Approximately 146 meters of road along the canal in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district collapsed on Monday, which a local authority and residents said was possibly caused by the deepening of a canal adjacent to it.
Touch Sam Ol, Stung Meanchey II commune chief, who inspected the site on Monday, confirmed that there were no deaths or injuries when the incident happened about 1 p.m.
“A preliminary check revealed that the flow of water [due to continuous rain] and restoration of the canal caused the landslide,” he said. In addition, the road, which was made of concrete, was “heavy”.
Sam Ol referred further questions to Phnom Penh Municipal authorities which are responsible for the road that was built seven to eight years ago and measures about 1,000 meters long and five meters wide.
Krouch Sarin, 48, has been renting a house along the canal for 10 years. She expressed shock having witnessed the road sliding down towards the canal, and was thankful that no one was injured in the incident.
Sarin related that before the road collapsed, she was sitting in front of her house, washing potatoes to boil, noting that the road had cracked a few days ago after the canal, located a few meters from her house, was deepened as part of a flood mitigation project for Phnom Penh.
“Yes, we are afraid that it will continue to slide, and we won’t be able to quickly pack our things,” she said, when asked to describe her reaction. “It might have been due to the excavators digging the canal.”
Another resident, launderette operator Sun Sokhim, 39, said she was just collecting the dried laundry from outside and into her house when the road collapsed. She was glad that it did not damage her property.
She too shared that the collapse might have been caused by the excavation works which involved deepening the canal. “We noticed that the breadth of the canal is not wide. When they dig deeper, the land [surrounding it] will collapse,” Sokhim said.
“I am very scared because I have small kids,” she said.
She was also concerned that her laundry business would decline because the road had collapsed and vehicles would not be able to reach her place. “My business will drop because people cannot travel in now,” Sokhim said.
Phnom Penh deputy governor Keut Chhe said he cannot provide any details yet, because the authorities just received information. “I have contacted public works and transportation departments, and asked the district authority to divert traffic to avoid accidents,” he said.
Affiliated Network for Social Accountability executive director San Chey opined that the incident may have occurred because of “insufficient measures” to ensure canal works were safe. There was also no proper foundation along the canal when road construction started, he added.
According to technical requirements, they should have proper foundation and erect walls along the edge of the canal to prevent landslides caused by water flow or heavy rain.
“It is [now] a lesson learned from what might happen to other road construction sites located along main streams,” Chey said, adding that the main canal has a system to release water, and structures to protect from any landslides.
