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Gold thieves explode grenades in heist, injure six
Sep 21, 2009, 6:08 GMT
Phnom Penh - Two thieves hurled several hand grenades into a local market in eastern Cambodia before robbing a gold vendor of a small amount of gold and cash, national media reported Monday.
Provincial police chief Sann Sothea said six gold vendors were injured Friday's attack on the market in Kampong Cham province. The robbers escaped with 250 US dollars and an unknown quantity of gold.
'It is the first time that the gold robbers used grenades to rob the market vendors like this in Kampong Cham province,' Sann Sothea told the Cambodia Daily newspaper.
Two vendors were seriously injured in the blasts and four others were slightly hurt, he said. Seven market stalls were destroyed.
Sann Sothea said the number of injuries was low because many vendors had left the market to prepare food for the annual Pchum Ben festival, when the country's majority Buddhist population visit pagodas to leave offerings for their deceased relatives.
Police had made no arrests in connection in the incident.
Many Cambodians store their wealth in gold as they do not trust banks. This year has seen a spate of attacks on gold vendors in the capital Phnom Penh and other parts of Cambodia.
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