(CNN) -- A stampede that occurred during a festival near Cambodia's royal palace in Phnom Penh has killed 339 people, Cambodia's minister of information, Khieu Kanharith, said Monday.
More than 4 million people were attending the Water Festival when the stampede occurred, said Visalsok Nou, a Cambodian Embassy official in Washington.
The three-day festival, which began Saturday, is held each November to honor Cambodian naval forces and includes boat races, according to a government website.