Published: 9:53am, 20 May 2025Updated: 9:55am, 20 May 2025
Three people were killed and several others injured when they were struck by lightning while visiting Cambodia’s famous Angkor Wat temple complex.
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They had been seeking shelter around the main temple of the Unesco site when the lightning struck late on Friday afternoon.
Videos posted on social media showed two ambulances arriving in the aftermath and onlookers and site officials carrying out some injured people and helping others out on foot. Other images showed multiple people being treated in hospital.
The day after the incident, Cambodia’s Minister of Tourism Hout Hak issued a statement telling people to take down online posts about it, saying the spreading of “negative information” could harm the country’s tourism sector.
Authorities have released no information about the incident, but an official on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, confirmed that three people – all Cambodian – were killed in the lightning strike.
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The Cambodian Red Cross also posted an update saying it had delivered care packages to the families of two of the victims, a 34-year-old man and a 52-year-old woman. The Red Cross refused to comment further by phone.
