PHNOM PENH (BNO NEWS) -- In one of the worst stampedes in years, at least 349 people were killed on Monday evening when a massive crowd in the Cambodian capital erupted in panic, officials said.

The stampede happened around 10 p.m. local time on a bridge in the capital of Phnom Penh as millions of people were in the city to attend Water Festival celebrations. Panic erupted when false rumors spread that the bridge was about the collapse.

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen described the stampede as the nation's darkest hour since the Khmer Rouge, whose rule between 1975 and 1979 left more than two million Cambodians killed.

Hospital officials in the capital said at least 349 bodies had been counted as of Tuesday morning while more than 450 people had sustained injuries. Some of them were in a critical condition, making it likely that the death toll will rise further.

Police said most of the victims died as a result of suffocation and internal injuries, and the skin of many had turned purple as a result of the trampling. At least 240 of the victims were women.

"With this terrible event, I would like to share my condolences with my compatriots and family members of the victims," Sen said, adding that a committee would be formed to investigate the incident. He declared Wednesday a national day of mourning.

Doctors in the area were completely overwhelmed by the hundreds of victims who flooded medical facilities. Ambulances were speeding across the city to transport victims to hospitals.

The stampede was the deadliest stampede since August 31, 2005 when more than 1,000 people were killed on the Al-Aaimmah bridge in the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.

(Copyright 2010 by BNO News B.V. All rights reserved. Info: sales@bnonews.com.)