Crash Update

11-11-08

A quick update on what I know about the recent helicopter crash in my district.

The crash site itself was extremely close, maybe about two kilometers away from my house. I've been out there already, and the wreck is pretty badly mangled. The tail of the helicopter is intact, but the rest is just a big mass of twisted metal.

The police have a pretty large presence around the crash site, but for the most part I haven't seen too many of them about town. This is certainly the most exciting thing to have happened in this part of Cambodia in...ever.

The man who was killed, Hok Landi, was the chief of the National Police. He's been a big name in Cambodian politics for nearly thirty years, and was a powerful ally of the Prime Minister. You will have to do your own research on him, since I can't discuss politics on a public blog. But I can tell you what the reaction from people I know has been.

Hok Landi, for whatever his other activities, was Svay Rieng's native son, and had funneled a lot of generosity back into the province. Particularly to the local religious institutions. Half of the buildings in the wat I teach at, including the Buddhist High School itself, were built with money he donated. When I went to see my co-teacher yesterday, I found him in tears. He had lived at the wat when he went to university, as so many other poor Cambodians have been able to do. He remembered Mr. Hok Landi coming to the wat many times and giving out gifts. He was devastated by his death.

Which I guess just goes to show that nobody is black and white. People just are...until they aren't.