Hi everyone,
I just wanted to post quickly about the recent tragedy in Phnom Penh. Last night, on the last night of Water Festival, 350 people were trampled to death on a bridge in the capital, the city where I was just living for the past 4 weeks. I've checked with all of my friends and everyone I know seems to be okay, but a lot of people aren't. I guess there was mass chaos and confusion and people got scared and ran off the bridge, killing many in their attempt to escape. This is a devastating tragedy, especially during such a happy and important time as Water Festival.
Water Festival is a huge national holiday in Cambodia. There are similar events (Loy Krathong in Thailand) in other parts of Asia, and it is a celebration of the full moon, an end to the rainy season, an a prayer for good rice harvests. It is a time of happiness and hope for a lot of people, originating from a blend of Buddhist, animist and Hindu traditions. I watched an interview on Asian news this morning where a woman cried at the camera that she had lost her entire family, save one son, in the Khmer Rouge. Her only son had just been trampled in the stampede, and now she has no one. It was literally heartbreaking.
I've enclosed a link to the Guardian article about the tragedy, I'm sure it's all over our American news at home.
Thoughts and prayers and good vibes and love to all my friends in Phnom Penh.
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