The unidentified body of a male foreign national, stuffed into a suitcase with only the head sticking out, was found by local fishermen in Kep province yesterday morning after washing up on the side of a canal near a mangrove forest.

Provincial police said that the victim, estimated to be at least 40 years old, died from blunt force trauma after being beaten with a hard object such as a metal tool. The victim had broken bones in his jaw and torso, scratches on his face and extensive bruising.

Fishermen found the body around Ampeng village in Damnak Changaur district’s Angkorl commune and reported it to the police at 7:30am.

The victim had been killed recently, possibly on Sunday night, police said. His assailants then folded him into a suitcase, which they then bound with tape before throwing it into the water.

After a day of investigation, local police were no closer to identifying the bruised and swollen body, which was discovered without any form of identification. They did, however, insist that he had not been residing in the province.

“We believe that this foreigner did not stay or live in Kep,” said Mak Samet, bureau chief of the Penal Crime Office of the Kep provincial police.

Kep’s provincial police chief, Brigadier General Eng Somol, said he will work with nearby provinces to uncover more details about the murder.

Somol claimed that this is the first murder of a foreigner in Kep.

A report by the Ministry of Interior found that 137 foreigners died in Cambodia in 2014. Causes of death included disease, murder and suicide.