Cambodian gold rush rumours attract hundreds of hysterical hopefuls

May 19, 2011, 3:49 GMT

Phnom Penh - Rumours that hundreds of kilograms of Khmer Rouge-era gold had been found in western Cambodia have drawn hundreds of people to the area in recent days, national media reported Thursday.

The governor of Pursat province, Khoy Sokha, told the Phnom Penh Post newspaper that the authorities had now taken over the site but had found nothing.

'If the authorities did find buried treasure, it would be kept as state treasure, and no one would own it,' he said, adding that tensions had seen fights break out among desperate diggers.

Khoy Sokha said he had established a committee to deal with the situation.

'It is an illegal action,' he was quoted as saying. 'They do not have permission from the authorities to dig in this area. Officials had to stop them immediately.'

A human rights worker in the province said people were 'hysterical' but had not struck gold.

'They heard the news from one person to another person, so they gathered and started digging,' said Nget Theavy of the Cambodia Human Rights and Development Organization, or ADHOC. 'Some of them continued to dig without eating rice or drinking water.'

The Khmer Rouge blew up Cambodia's central bank when they captured Phnom Penh in 1975. Rumours about what happened to its gold reserves have circulated ever since with some believing a faction of the movement made off with the gold and destroyed the bank to hide their tracks.