PHNOM PENH - Traditional dragon boat racing resumed in Phnom Penh in front of the Royal Palace on Wednesday after it was suspended for three years following a fatal crowd stampede in 2010.
Cambodian rowers power their boats during the annual Water Festival on the Tonle Sap River in front of the Royal Palace in Phnom Penh on Wednesday. (EPA photo)
A total of 248 boats with 17,062 oarsmen are joining this year's race on the waterfront where the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers intersect, less than in 2010 when there were 429 boats.
Kirt Chantharith, spokesman of Cambodian National Police, said more than 10,000 security personnel, including police and military police, will be deployed during the three-day water festival.
Authorities anticipate that more than 2 million people, mostly from rural areas, will flock to Phnom Penh to enjoy the celebrations, despite some fears of a repeat of what happened in 2010.
On Nov 22, 2010, on the last day of festival, 353 people were trampled to death and nearly 395 others injured in a bridge stampede.
Prime Minister Hun Sen then called it Cambodia's biggest tragedy in more than three decades since the fall of the Khmer Rouge regime, referring to the mass killings between 1975 and 1979.
This year, Kirt Chantharith said, authorities will do everything possible to ensure there will be no repeat of the tragedy.
The 1,700-metre race recalls the long history of Cambodia in which boats were sometimes used to achieve victory over enemies.
The festival, the country's biggest, is an occasion for many farmers in the countryside to visit the capital city after months of hard work in the fields.
