BREAKING NEWS: Australian "Bomb Expert" & Cambodian Soldier Killed in Russian Bomb Explosion at Shooting Range

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Re: BREAKING NEWS: Australian "Bomb Expert" & Cambodian Soldier Killed in Russian Bomb Explosion at Shooting Range

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Australians in deadly Cambodia explosion were not military personnel
Cambodian authorities say explosion that killed two and injured two was not part of a military exercise
Hannah Hawkins and Leng Len in Phnom Penh
Fri 16 Mar 2018 08.49 GMT
Last modified on Fri 16 Mar 2018 10.57 GMT

- An Australian man who was killed and another who was injured in a landmine accident at an army base in Cambodia on Thursday were not Australian defence force personnel and the explosion did not occur during a military exercise, the Australian Department of Defence has confirmed.

Cambodian authorities initially claimed the men were military trainers present at an exercise at a tank base in Kampong Speu province, about 50km from Phnom Penh, when the war-era bomb detonated. The explosion also killed one Cambodian soldier and wounded a second.

Later, Chhum Socheat, a spokesman for Cambodia’s defence ministry, said no such military exercise had been taking place and the Australians were on a “very personal visit.”
“The Australian men were invited to visit the base by the military officers at the base,” he said. “They are friends with the Cambodian military [officers] who [are] stationed there.”

Socheat said it was not clear whether the Australian who was killed was a tourist: “But obviously he was not a military exercise trainer. He was just visiting.”

“We are searching for his passport. Even the [Australian] embassy has been requesting for more details, which we could not share with [them] at the moment.”

However, other officials claimed the men were tourists.

“They apparently were just tourists visiting the base. As they approached the shooting range, one of them picked up the bomb,” said the provincial governor of Kampong Speu, Vey Samnang, who claimed one of the men had told officers he had expertise with mines.

An assistant to base commander Lanh Kao, who refused to provide his name, also said the Australians were tourists.

Another soldier at the base, who also refused to give his name, said Australian tourists regularly used weapons at the base “for fun”, though this was denied by Socheat.

The base is filled with unexploded ordnance and military officials say it is regularly used to practise demining and not open to the public.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/ ... -personnel
Last edited by CEOCambodiaNews on Fri Mar 16, 2018 7:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: BREAKING NEWS: Australian "Bomb Expert" & Cambodian Soldier Killed in Russian Bomb Explosion at Shooting Range

Post by CEOCambodiaNews »

Australian killed at Cambodian gun range was tourist, not military as local 'cover-up' suggests
Exclusive by South-East Asia correspondent Liam Cochrane
Updated about 3 hours ago
The two Australians involved in a deadly explosion at a shooting range in Cambodia were tourists and not part of an official Australian military training operation as claimed by Cambodian authorities, according to various sources.
Cambodian police, the provincial governor and a government spokesman described the Australians involved as military trainers.

However, the ABC understands there was no official military training scheduled for the area and the men were likely tourists visiting a shooting range run by the Cambodian military for profit.

The Department of Defence confirmed the accident did not occur as part of a military training exercise and no ADF personnel were involved.

Soldiers at the Kampong Speu Armoured Headquarters told the ABC they were ordered not to speak to media because allowing foreigners onto the range to fire weapons was "illegal".

The range is well-known among tourists who pay cash to shoot AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and to throw hand grenades.

Similar shooting ranges exist near Phnom Penh airport and in Siem Reap.

The outdoor rage in Kampong Speu is used for heavier weapons, with promotional videos showing tourists firing RPGs at propane tanks to create fiery explosions.
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-16/c ... ry/9557230
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Re: BREAKING NEWS: Australian "Bomb Expert" & Cambodian Soldier Killed in Russian Bomb Explosion at Shooting Range

Post by (┛◉Д◉)┛ »

seems certain now that we are never ever going to know the real story
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Re: BREAKING NEWS: Australian "Bomb Expert" & Cambodian Soldier Killed in Russian Bomb Explosion at Shooting Range

Post by cptrelentless »

(┛◉Д◉)┛ wrote: Fri Mar 16, 2018 7:53 pm seems certain now that we are never ever going to know the real story
Think it's pretty obvious - base commander has a sideline in letting tourists fire off weapons for a bit of cash. Dingbat with the shrapnel wounds picked up something he shouldn't have, as, much per usual, nobody bothers making the duds and misfires safe. The soldiers on the base know better than to pick that shit up.
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Re: BREAKING NEWS: Australian "Bomb Expert" & Cambodian Soldier Killed in Russian Bomb Explosion at Shooting Range

Post by angkorjohn »

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: Fri Mar 16, 2018 7:32 pm
The range is well-known among tourists who pay cash to shoot AK-47 assault rifles and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) and to throw hand grenades.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-16/c ... ry/9557230
we still gonna believe they stepped on a land mine at a shooting range?Maybe some of those with military experience can clarify if the injuries are consistent with a mine...upper body trauma no lower injuries
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Re: BREAKING NEWS: Australian "Bomb Expert" & Cambodian Soldier Killed in Russian Bomb Explosion at Shooting Range

Post by PSD-Kiwi »

Where was it ever reported that he stepped on a landmine? Don't think it was
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Re: BREAKING NEWS: Australian "Bomb Expert" & Cambodian Soldier Killed in Russian Bomb Explosion at Shooting Range

Post by King Keil »

Nowhere, of course. The term was always "picked something up"
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Re: BREAKING NEWS: Australian "Bomb Expert" & Cambodian Soldier Killed in Russian Bomb Explosion at Shooting Range

Post by Anchor Moy »

Do we know where this happened ? Is it a real army training ground, or was it a set up for tourists that like to pay to play with guns ?
Used to see ads in the PP tuktuks for this sort of thing.
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Re: BREAKING NEWS: Australian "Bomb Expert" & Cambodian Soldier Killed in Russian Bomb Explosion at Shooting Range

Post by PSD-Kiwi »

All the ranges where tourists can pay to go fire weapons are on RCAF land, whether it be part of a base or a training area.
Last edited by PSD-Kiwi on Sat Mar 17, 2018 7:00 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Re: BREAKING NEWS: Australian "Bomb Expert" & Cambodian Soldier Killed in Russian Bomb Explosion at Shooting Range

Post by General Mackevili »

Who would have thought mishandling grenades was so common?

"Life is too important to take seriously."

"Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh."

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