Cambodian police seek suicide cult leader

Police in eastern Cambodia are searching for the leader of a suspected Buddhist cult after a monk and two nuns burned themselves to death.

Three other monks at a temple, the Wat Thmar Sar pagoda, in Prey Veng, were found with chest wounds believed to have been inflicted in a failed suicide attempt.

The victims left notes saying they believed their suicides were the only way to get to heaven.

The community at the temple specialises in strict meditation techniques, and Cambodian police say the chief monk - who fled the temple after the deaths - may have encouraged the suicides as part of the cult's beliefs.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service