A few thoughts on the stampede

I’m sure you’ve heard about the deadly stampede in Phnom Penh a week ago that killed at least 350 festival-goers, mostly women and young people, and left hundreds more injured. Although I’ve been to Phnom Penh many times, I was in my rural village at the time and did not know any of the victims,

But I saw the striking way Cambodians deal with grief on a national scale. I also saw the way news travels in a developing country, where BlackBerrys are unheard of and most people have never used the internet.

The stampede occurred on a bridge during the annual Water Festival. During Water Festival, about two million people from the countryside flock to Phnom Penh, doubling the population. There are so many crowds it’s difficult to go anywhere or see the boats, the main attraction of the festival. The Cambodian heat (where temperatures typically reach 95-100 degrees), while being surrounded by slow-moving people, along with tons of traffic to get into Phnom Penh, did not appeal to me.

Therefore, I was in my rural village the day of the tragedy. The day we heard about the tragedy was typical. Cambodians watched the news a little more, but basically carried on with their day. Peace Corps sent out text messages to ensure we were all OK and I texted a few of my friends in Phnom Penh to make sure they were OK.

The way Cambodians deal with their grief is a little strange for me. Cambodians smile and laugh when they are embarrassed. So, when I was eating breakfast and people were watching the news and another death from my district was announced, the people almost sounded like they were cheering as if watching a sporting event or election returns.

What I perceive as odd behavior has continued over the past two weeks. People in the countryside joke around a lot about the tragedy. A common theme in the jokes is someone wishing someone close to them died so they could get all the money being given out. Families who have a death in the family allegedly receive $12,000 per death, about six times the average yearly income. These donations come from the government, opposition parties, charities and companies. As my friend like to joke, “One woman lost three of her four children on the bridge. When asked about it, she said ‘I only lost three children.’”

When I told people that I was going to Phnom Penh the following weekend, many people asked me if I was going to go “play” at Diamond Island, the site of the stampede. Then they would giggle to each other.

I still do not completely understand why they find it OK to joke like this, but some people said they joke because they are afraid. Perhaps, joking is a way for them to express themselves, as feelings are not openly discussed here (including PTSD and other ramifications from the Khmer Rouge times). I think this short article about a hotline for stampede victims illustrates the lack of awareness about mental health issues:
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/index.php/2010113045050/National-news/stampede-hotline-launched.html

The stampede also sparked many rumors. One was that the day after the stampede, a bus flipped over on another bridge. My host family had all the details down. And my friend in another province heard the exact same story, but it was completely unfounded. I don’t know how untrue things travel so fast around this country.

Due to an undeveloped legal system and lack of transparency (hence the cash payouts for victims), it will be difficult to determine what really happened and who was at fault. From what I’ve read and heard it seemed that this bridge has thousands of people on it. There are reports of some sort of commotion, perhaps from the bridge swaying or someone yelling about danger.

Many people were jammed together, perhaps for many hours. Some people jumped off the bridge while others were trying to climb away and may have been electrocuted.

It is also unclear what the authorities were doing. One report said they fired some sort of water hose at the people on the bridge.

Survivor stories are quite stirring. One blogger spoke with many of the victims and used the accounts to produce a fictional story about a family trapped on the bridge. The parts in bold are allegedly true:
http://h-panharath.blogspot.com/2010/12/festival-of-fun-and-fatal-fiasco.html

For more information about the stampede, I also recommend Google News and Wikipedia.

Since the stampede was the biggest tragedy since the genocide, I imagine Cambodians will talk about it for a long time. If anything interesting occurs, I will be sure to post it here.