Huge crowd gathers for Sihanouk cremation

Huge crowds gathered in Phnom Penh for the cremation Monday evening of King Norodom Sihanouk, former monarch of Cambodia. The cremation ceremony marks the end of commemorations in Cambodia of the man who was regarded as an influential leader during the country’s turbulent years under the brutal rule of the Khmer Rouge. Sihanouk died in Beijing at the age of 89. His embalmed body had been lying in state to allow Cambodians to pay their last respects. Sihanouk’s widow, Queen Monique, and his son King Norodom Sihamon were set to light the funeral pyre. Sihanouk abdicated in favor of his son in 2004. Sihanouk became king of Cambodia in 1941 when he was only a teenager, leading his country to independence from France in 1953. He spent many years in exile in China and was held under house arrest while the Khmer Rouge was in power. His ashes would be scattered at the confluence of 3 rivers, with the rest put in an urn that will be kept in the royal palace.

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