A funeral is held for 20 Cambodian soldiers killed in an arms depot explosion at an army base

CHBAR MON, Cambodia (AP) — A funeral was held Sunday for 20 soldiers who died at an army base in southwestern Cambodia in a huge explosion of stored munitions that also wounded several others and damaged nearby houses.

There has been no public explanation of what caused the Saturday afternoon blast at the base in Kompong Speu province, though there were no suggestions it was triggered deliberately.

Defense Minister Tea Seiha, representing Prime Minister Hun Manet, presided over the Buddhist funeral ceremony, which was attended by relatives of the victims and fellow soldiers. Cambodian flags covered the wooden coffins.

A villager living nearby told The Associated Press on Sunday that he trembled after hearing the blast because he had never before experienced such a loud explosion.

“When the explosion happened, I was fixing my house with some construction workers,” said Chim Sothea. “Suddenly there was a loud explosion, causing my house to shake and breaking tiles on my roof. They fell down but luckily they didn’t fall inside the house.”

Images showed several badly damaged buildings on the base, at least one with its roof blown off, and soldiers receiving treatment in a hospital. Other photos showed nearby houses with holes in their roofs.

Four buildings on the base — three for storage and one work facility — were destroyed and several military vehicles damaged, Col. Youeng Sokhon, an army officer at the site, said in a report to army chief Gen. Mao Sophan.

Another villager, who asked to be named only as Sophal, said the military closed the road to the base and “villagers were in a panic, seeking a safe place.” He moved his family to his parent’s home, farther away from the base. When he returned to his own house hours later, he found it undamaged but other villagers’ houses had broken windows, doors and roofs, he said.

Cambodia, like many countries in the region, has been suffering from an extended heat wave, and the province where the blast took place registered a high of 39 C (102 F) on Saturday. While high temperatures normally can’t detonate ammunition, they can degrade the stability of explosives over a period of time, with the risk that a single small explosion can set off a fire and a chain reaction.

In March 2005, a nighttime blast at an arms depot in the northwestern provincial town of Battambang triggered an hourslong spray of shells and bullets, killing at least six people and causing panic.

A 2014 report by the Swiss-based group Small Arms Survey highlighted the dangers of poorly stored or mishandled munitions, calling it a “global problem.” It noted that from 1979 through 2013 there were more than 500 incidents involving unplanned explosions at munitions sites.

FILE - Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Manet attends the East Asia Summit at the Association of the Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit in Jakarta, Indonesia, Thursday, Sept. 7, 2023. Cambodia’s prime minister says 20 soldiers have been killed and several others injured in an ammunition explosion at a base in the southwest of the country. Hun Manet said in a Facebook post that he was “deeply shocked” when he received the news of the explosion Saturday afternoon at the base in Kampong Speu province. (Yasuyoshi Chiba/Pool Photo via AP, File)

A roof of a nearby residence is seen damaged after an ammunition explosion at Prey Beng village in Kampong Speu province, Cambodia, Sunday, April 28, 2024. An ammunition explosion at a base in southwestern Cambodia on Saturday afternoon killed multiple soldiers and wounded several others, Prime Minister Hun Manet said. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

A nearby resident collects fragments falling from the roof of his house after an ammunition explosion at Prey Beng village in Kampong Speu province, Cambodia, Sunday, April 28, 2024. An ammunition explosion at a base in southwestern Cambodia on Saturday afternoon killed multiple soldiers and wounded several others, Prime Minister Hun Manet said. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

Chim Sothy, a nearby resident, stands under the damaged roof at his house after an ammunition explosion at Prey Beng village in Kampong Speu province, Cambodia, Sunday, April 28, 2024. An ammunition explosion at a base in southwestern Cambodia on Saturday afternoon killed multiple soldiers and wounded several others, Prime Minister Hun Manet said. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

In this image from a video, smoke rises above a distant base, seen from Chbar Mon district in Kompong Speu province, Cambodia Saturday, April 27, 2024. An ammunition explosion at a base in southwestern Cambodia on Saturday afternoon killed multiple soldiers and wounded several others, Prime Minister Hun Manet said. (Chim Sothea via AP)

In this image from a video, smoke rises above a distant base, seen from Chbar Mon district in Kompong Speu province, Cambodia Saturday, April 27, 2024. An ammunition explosion at a base in southwestern Cambodia on Saturday afternoon killed multiple soldiers and wounded several others, Prime Minister Hun Manet said. (Chim Sothea via AP)

NEW YORK (AP) — It's probably the last place a mom wants to spend Mother's Day with her kids. But a family visiting space at New York City's notorious Rikers Island jail complex is a little more kid-friendly after a colorful redesign by the Children’s Museum of Manhattan.

The jail opened the new preschool play and learning room for the children and grandchildren of female prisoners Tuesday, a few days ahead of the Sunday holiday.

“Mother’s Day means everything to me,” said Rikers inmate Nadine Leach, 43, as she watched her three-year-old granddaughter, Queen, excitedly explore the sound machines, coloring books and toys.

One interactive wall display shows a map of the city’s five boroughs. Buttons below trigger city sounds, like the screech of a subway.

Leach’s daughter Lashawna Jones, 27, said the play installation is beautiful compared with her last visit. Before, it was a mostly bare room, with a few books. Jones said the design focused her children’s attention on imaginative play, instead of their grandmother being in jail and awaiting trial on a felony drug charge.

“It makes me sad that she’s not actually home with us for Mother’s Day. Because I feel like a little sad coming here to visit her here because I’m used to having her physically home with us. Like, right now, I’m being a big girl; I’m holding my tears back,” Jones said.

To get to the facility, families take a bus, go through security and drug screenings, and pass by walls with six layers of razer wire. Outside the new play center, a sign on blue cinderblock reads, “Inmates are permitted to hold their children during the visit.”

The visitation hub was designed and installed by the Children’s Museum of Manhattan and replicates exhibitions at the museum’s home on the Upper West Side.

The exhibits teach preschool skills: communication, sharing, literacy and executive function, said Leslie Bushara, the museum’s chief program officer.

Lynelle Maginley-Liddie, commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction, cut a giant green ceremonial ribbon to open the room.

“We want mothers to have interactions with their kids,” Maginley-Liddie said. “You know, being incarcerated can be very difficult. It can be difficult on the children. It can be difficult on the moms. And it’s important for them to have those connections even while they’re in our care, so that when they are released, that bond has been sustained during incarceration."

Rikers Island consists mainly of men's jail facilities that house around 6,000 people. Child-friendly exhibits will be added to those facilities over the next year, the museum said in a statement. Funding for the exhibits also will allow approved inmates to travel to the Children’s Museum of Manhattan twice per month.

People jailed at Rikers are either charged with crimes being tested in court or are serving short sentences. City officials voted to close the entire complex in 2026 and replace it with smaller neighborhood facilities that would be easier for relatives to visit, but the deadline was pushed back. Poor conditions have raised the prospect of a federal takeover.

The women’s jail, called the Rose M. Singer Center, currently holds around 370 people, according to the Department of Corrections. State officials moved hundreds of women into state facilities in 2021 in an effort to improve safety.

Associated Press writer Cedar Attanasio contributed to this report.

The Rikers Island jail complex with razor wire fencing is shown in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

The Rikers Island jail complex is shown in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

The Rikers Island jail complex is shown in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

A surveillance camera is shown in a visitation hub area of the Rikers Island jail complex in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

A sign on the wall of a visitation hub at the Rikers Island jail complex reads "Inmates Are Permitted to Hold Their Children During the Visit" at the facility in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

Commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction Lynelle Maginley-Liddie is photographed in the newly opened preschool play and learn hub for inmate mothers and visiting children in the Rose M. Singer Center at the Rikers Island jail complex in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

Leslie Bushara, Chief Program Officer at the Children's Museum of Manhattan, is photographed in the newly opened preschool play and learn visitation hub that the museum designed and installed in the Rose M. Singer Center at the Rikers Island jail complex in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

Commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction Lynelle Maginley-Liddie, right, sits in the newly opened preschool play and learn hub for inmate mothers and visiting children in the Rose M. Singer Center at the Rikers Island jail complex in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

Commissioner of the New York City Department of Correction Lynelle Maginley-Liddie is photographed in the newly opened preschool play and learn hub for inmate mothers and visiting children in the Rose M. Singer Center at the Rikers Island jail complex in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

The Rikers Island jail complex is shown in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

The Rikers Island jail complex is shown in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)

Inmate Nadine Leach, 43, right, visits with her grandchildren and daughter Lashawna Jones, 27, in the newly opened preschool play and learn visitation hub in the Rose M. Singer Center at the Rikers Island jail complex in the Bronx borough of New York, on Tuesday, May 7, 2024. (AP Photo/Ted Shaffrey)