The 44-year-old reporter for the Khmer language Meakea Kampuchea newspaper in Kampong Chhnang province’s Cholkiri district, was set upon by a group of fishermen as he left his house in Cholkiri district’s Peam Chhkork commune, according to officials. He had reported on illegal fishing in the commune in the lead-up to his death. Cambodian media also reported that Chan had been photographing and reporting on the use of large electric rods to kill fish in conservation areas.

The Cambodian Association for the Protection of Journalists (CAPJ), an IFJ affiliate, said Chan was on his way home when he was attacked with stones and bamboo sticks in the violent onslaught. He received medical treatment in a provincial hospital but died of his injuries as he was transported to a Phnom Penh hospital.

Chan is the 12th journalist to be killed in Cambodia and the first since Virakchun (Hero) Khmer Daily journalist Hang Serei Oudom was brutally murdered in an axe attack in Rattanakiri province in September 2012.