A man who snuck into a plane’s landing gear died after falling 30 metres during take-off at Siem Reap airport on Monday.
Police have yet to identify the victim, but deputy provincial police chief Phoeung Chendareth on Tuesday said the incident occurred at about 10.20am on Monday.
“The body was sent to the provincial hospital by airport staffers after the accident,” the Khmer Times on Wednesday quoted Pol Brig Gen Chendareth as saying. “The victim suffered injuries to the head, legs and hands.”
He said that he received a call at about 10.30am from airport authorities regarding the death.
Police then went to the scene to investigate and reviewed CCTV footage.
Pol Brig Gen Chendareth said he found footage of the man who was walking between multiple planes and disappearing.
Based on the footage, police suspect the man climbed up one of the plane’s landing gear and fell asleep.
He noted that police officers found cut barbed wires at the scene and believe the man snuck into the airport at night.
“His body was sent to the provincial hospital and we have yet to identify him,” Pol Brig Gen Chendareth. “We are now looking for his relatives.”
“We suspect that the victim had a mental illness,” he added, noting the death was an accident. “The person was not a terrorist.”
Maj Gen Tith Narong, the provincial police chief, declined to comment.
Touch Malay, deputy chief of the provincial technical bureau, said police are still working on the case.
“I think that this happened because airport officials were careless. This place should be banned to the public and guarded by security -- so why did this happen?” Malay said.
Tith Vantha, director of the airport, declined to comment.