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The number of families evacuated from the disputed Prey Chan village after a deadly Wednesday shooting, which Cambodia and Thailand blamed on each other and that killed one Cambodian and wounded three others, has risen to 300, a Banteay Meanchey provincial spokesperson said.
Late Wednesday and early Thursday, 200 households from Prey Chan, which Thailand claims as part of its Ban Nong Ya Kaew village in Sa Kaeo province, were moved to a pagoda in O’Chrov district, farther from the border.
An ASEAN Observer Team visited the displacement camp Thursday afternoon, the National Defense Ministry said.
Prime Minister Hun Manet expressed condolences to the family of Dy Nai, a 36-year-old civilian killed in the shooting, which Cambodian authorities described as a direct attack on civilians in an “inhumane and brutal” incident. Nai’s funeral and cremation were held Thursday.
The Thai army denied targeting or injuring civilians, with a spokesperson telling Reuters Thursday that Cambodian soldiers first fired shots into Thailand before Thai forces returned fire “following rules of engagement” in an exchange that lasted about 10 minutes. Thailand reported no casualties.
The three other wounded Cambodians are in stable condition and have been transferred to Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh for further treatment, Banteay Meanchey Health Department Director Ly Chansangvet said.
“They [Thai soldiers] shot at us, and we were unarmed, and we had nothing to fight back with,” said Taing Ngy, 63, a Prey Chan resident now sheltering at the pagoda. “During the gunfire, I was sitting and chatting with a few Cambodian soldiers near the erected razor wire. When we heard the shots, we ran away because we had no weapons against them.”
Banteay Meanchey provincial spokesperson Norng Vuthy said the border situation remained calm as of Thursday evening.
