4 Cambodians die in accident at unlicensed gold mine

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia (AP) — Four Cambodian prospectors who were digging for gold in a central province have died when earth collapsed into the pit where they were mining. Information Minister Khieu Kanharith quoted reports from a local official saying the four men who died had been hired by a couple who own the mine in a rural village. A villager said mounds of excavated earth collapsed on the men without warning as they were digging, and no one was nearby to see their plight. Illegal gold mining on a small scale is often tolerated, while licensed industrial mining for gold in carried out by several companies, including from Australia, China, Vietnam and India.