The death caves of Battambang

This graphic representation of the Phnom Sampeou caves marks the entrance. $1 for foreigners

The death caves of Phnom Sampeou, some 18kms west of Battambang, have been on the tourist circuit for many years. It was only in the last year that the local authorities built a new genocidal memorial and located it in Teng Klun cave, also known as La-Ang Kirirum. More than 15,000 people are believed to have been killed at the site, which was both a prison and execution center during the Khmer Rouge regime from 1975 -79. Eye witnesses from the time recount that in late afternoons, victims were tied together and led to the top of the mountain, where they were interrogated before having their throats cut with saws or were bludgeoned and thrown into the caves below. Children were usually killed without interrogation and thrown down a smaller cave shaft. A small temple building at the top of the mountain was used as the prison. Today the victims' remains have been collected into one shrine as over the years many of the bones have been removed from the site.

This is the cave shaft allegedly used for killing young children

The newly built genocide memorial shrine at La-Ang Kirirum

Some of the 15,000 victims believed to have died at the site

The final resting place for the victims of Phnom Sampeou