Two people were seriously injured and five others slightly injured when unexploded ordnance (UXO) detonated in a rice field in Oddar Meanchey province yesterday, police said.

Sou Nov, deputy police in Anlong Veng district, said the group of seven had been enjoying lunch together in Trapaing Prey commune when the UXO exploded.

“A man stepped on it,” Nov said, adding that the man and a 16-year-old girl were seriously injured. “It exploded near their eating place in the rice fields, so the others were injured by shrapnel.”

The victims were among 10 people working in the fields. The victims, who ranged in age from 16 to 35, were taken to hospital.

According to eight-month figures released by the Cambodian Mine Action Centre in September, UXO deaths have dropped almost 30 per cent this year, down from 26 deaths in the first eight months of last year to 19 deaths over the same period this year. In that time, 64 were injured, down 37 from the same period last year.