Phnom Penh tragedy – An udpate from Friends

Dear friends of Friends
Thank you so much for your numerous messages of support.
After the tragic stampede, 20 children were missing from the Mith Samlanh centers in Phnom Penh and for 24 hours the teams worked extremely hard to find these children. We are very happy to report that all children eventually showed up, to the teams’ great relief.
The ChildSafe Hotline also kept busy with 13 cases during the 3 days, including accidents, abuses and 3 lost children (the team was able to find their parents).
At the same time, however, other teams were visiting the families and children we work with in the slum areas and on the streets. Unfortunately, the news there was not so good… Currently we know that 9 children and youth we worked with died, 10 were injured and remain in hospital and another 5 are still missing at this time – our teams continue to search for them.These are provisional numbers and as the teams continue their work with these families, our fear is that these numbers might continue to increase.
The Friends teams are now also supporting the Government’s efforts to provide support to victims in the hospitals, assist in the reunification of separated families and in the general distribution of relief materials.
At this time of great sadness our thoughts go to all the families of the 347 people who lost their lives and the 755 who were injured during an event that should have been a joyous one.
We will continue to keep you informed of the situation and thank you so much again for all the support you have shown us.
The Friends and Mith Samlanh teams