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Cambodian Bon Om Touk Stampede Highlights Preventable Tragedy

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 August 2012

Edbert B. Hsu  and
Frederick M. Burkle Jr.
Edbert B. Hsu*
Affiliation:
Johns Hopkins Office of Critical Event Preparedness and Response, Johns Hopkins University Medical Institutions, Baltimore, Maryland USA
Frederick M. Burkle Jr.
Affiliation:
Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Harvard School of Public Health, Cambridge, Massachusetts USA
*
Correspondence: Edbert B. Hsu, MD, MPH 5801 Smith Ave. Davis Building, Suite 3220 Baltimore, Maryland 21209 USA E-mail ehsu1@jhmi.edu
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Abstract

The tragic nature of the human stampede that took place in Phnom Penh, Cambodia on November 22, 2010 claimed the lives of 347 people during the three-day-long Water Festival, known as Bon Om Touk. Described as the greatest tragedy that Cambodia has experienced since the collapse of the Khmer Rouge, the Bon Om Touk stampede ranks among the deadliest human stampede disasters during the past 30 years, a Class IV event exceeding 100 fatalities according to a recently proposed scale.1 From the perspective of global health, the event shares many characteristics with preceding major crowd disasters and failures in event planning. It is essential for the international community to officially monitor human stampedes as it does other major disasters. Additional research on human stampedes is needed to improve our collective understanding of the causes of crowd disasters and how best to prevent them.

Hsu EB, Burkle FM Jr. Cambodian Bon Om Touk Stampede Highlights Preventable Tragedy. Prehosp Disaster Med. 2012;27(5):1-2.

Keywords

accidental electrocutiondeveloping countrydisaster planning
Type
Brief Report
Information
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine , Volume 27 , Issue 5 , October 2012 , pp. 481 - 482
Copyright
Copyright © World Association for Disaster and Emergency Medicine 2012

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References

1. Ngai, KM, Burkle, FM Jr., Hsu, A, et al. Human stampedes: a systematic review of historical and peer-reviewed sources. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2009;3(4):191-195.Google Scholar
2. Cheang, S. Fear of bridge collapse set off Cambodia stampede. 2010. http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/as_cambodia_stampede. Accessed November 24, 2010.Google Scholar
3. Burkle, FM Jr, Hsu, E. Ram Janki Temple: understanding human stampedes. Lancet. 2011;377(9760):106-107.Google Scholar
4. Hsieh, YH, Ngai, KM, Burkle, FM Jr, et al. Epidemiological characteristics of human stampedes. Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2009;3(4):217-223.Google Scholar