Thursday, September 22, 2011

Cambodia airlifts tourists from Angkor temple

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE SEPTEMBER 22, 2011 7:06 AM

Angkor is described by UNESCO as "one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia" and contains the ruins of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to the 15th centuries.

Photograph by: TANG CHHIN SOTHY, Getty Images

PHNOM PENH - Nearly 200 tourists including foreigners were airlifted from Cambodia’s famed Angkor temple complex on Thursday after a road to one of the ruins was cut off by flash floods, officials said.

Three helicopters rescued visitors stranded at Banteay Srei, one of hundreds of ancient temples at the World Heritage site, after 16 hours of heavy rain inundated the access road, governor of Siem Reap northwestern province said.

"They were all evacuated to a safe place," Sou Phirin said.

Local district governor Moeung Vuthy told AFP 183 tourists were affected, including nationals from the US, Britain, Germany, China and South Korea.

Large areas of the country have been waterlogged in recent days, with rivers bursting their banks and flooding across towns and thousands of hectares of rice paddies.

Cambodia’s ministry of water resources and meteorology warned on Thursday that a low-pressure system developing over northern Cambodia would bring more heavy floods in coming days.

Angkor is described by UNESCO as "one of the most important archaeological sites in South-East Asia" and contains the ruins of the different capitals of the Khmer Empire from the 9th to the 15th centuries.