The families of two men who drowned after a cruise ship collided with their Water Festival racing boat during practice earlier this week have yet to receive word on whether Australian operator Cruiseco will accept their demand of $35,000 dollars in compensation, Prek Thmei commune chief Ly Vantheng said yesterday.

While the mourning families of Chhoen Chorn, 36, and Sok Chan Chesda, 18, had each received 13 million riel ($3,186) from the national holiday committee and other donors to cover funeral costs, they requested $35,000 from the company during a meeting on Tuesday.

Vantheng said the company was discussing the compensation with their upper management, adding he suspected the request was “too high”. The company has declined to comment on the incident.

Meanwhile, in a video statement made on Facebook yesterday, National Police deputy chief Kirth Chantharith said upwards of 700,000 people attended on the festival’s first day – a number that increased on subsequent days. He said of the 260 racing boats competing, compared with 248 in 2014, only six sank, in contrast to the 14 capsized vessels in 2014.

“In the three day period, the security was good and there were no major problems or deaths – except for the two rowers who died after they were training and were hit by a ship,” he said.

He added that 18 crimes had been reported – mostly petty theft – with arrests made in 15 of those cases.