Eyewitness: Cambodia stampede

Australian Sean Ngu, who is visiting family and friends in Phnom Penh, describes the stampede during Cambodia's water festival, in which at least 339 people were killed.

"I was in the park, some 30m away from the bridge. There was lots of noise and celebration cheer. Suddenly the cheer became screams, louder and louder. At first we thought people were celebrating, but the screams were different.

There were too many people on the bridge and both ends were pushing towards the centre. The pushing caused those in the middle to fall to the ground and then get crushed.

Those who were leaning against them were pushed further into the centre. This caused a sudden panic. I saw at least 50 people jumping in the river.

Others tried to climb onto the bridge, grabbing and pulling loose cables - electric shocks caused many more deaths.

It was complete chaos, nobody knew what to do. The police, security and the military came straight away. Ambulances arrived within minutes. The prime minister and his wife also came straight away to inspect the situation.
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The city is full of people. It is very quiet right now, apart from the ambulances. What a tragic end to a wonderful celebration”

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The police started to move the crowd away from the area. We stood nearby, trying to see if anyone will emerge from the water and hear the latest announcements on the number of deaths.

No-one saw one single person coming out of the river - all those people must have drowned.

The last we heard on local news was that nearly 400 people are dead and that 240 of them are women and girls. Over 1,000 people are injured. The main hospital is full - they normally charge for hospital treatment, but they are not charging tonight.

I am shocked, everybody is shocked. It happened so quickly.

We are at home now and the phones haven't stopped. People are calling their friends and family to make sure they are fine.

The water festival is one of the most important celebrations in the year and many people arrive from the countryside. The city is full of people. It is very quiet right now, apart from the ambulances.

What a tragic end to a wonderful celebration."