A flight carrying Cambodia's King Norodom Sihanouk to Beijing for medical treatment was cancelled at the last minute Tuesday after its fuel tanks overflowed, causing panic at Phnom Penh's airport, officials said.
The Royal Air Cambodge Boeing 737 was being refueled on the tarmac as the king arrived, when assembled officials, including Prime Minister Hun Sen, saw fuel leaking from the left wing onto the ground.
By the time the ageing monarch stepped from his limousine to greet gathered dignitaries, the flow had turned into a torrent.
"Overfilling motorbikes and cars is acceptable, but overfilling planes does not happen. I am afraid that this may be political terrorism on the king and government of Cambodia in order to destroy Cambodia," an angry Hun Sen said later.
Hun Sen demanded the immediate resignations of Royal Air Cambodge's chairman and vice-chairman and said an investigation had been launched into the incident.
"But the king was very calm ... The king and queen said that even in big countries, like with the Concorde in France, such events happen," Hun Sen added, referring to last week's catastrophe -- suspected to have resulted from a fuel leak -- that left more than 100 dead on the outskirts of Paris.
Flight crew and the head of the civil aviation authority here said the spill had occurred as a result of overfilling of the plane's fuel tanks.
However, King Sihanouk cancelled the flight and returned to the palace after a conversation with the prime minister, who apologized for the mishap.
"It is not your fault. It is unavoidable, our country is still poor," the King told Hun Sen.
The enraged prime minister had been marching around the departure area trailed by at least 10 anxious bodyguards and speaking heatedly into his mobile telephone.
Hundreds of well-wishers, including much of the diplomatic community, were gathered at the airport and could smell the strong odor of spilled jet fuel -- PHNOM PENH (AFP)
© 2000 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
