The narrow crossing, its neon light decorations still burning brightly, was closed off to the public but it was still littered with discarded flip-flops, clothing and water bottles, evidence of the nightmare that unfolded there.
"I feel very shocked now. It is the first time something like this has happened at the Water Festival," said taxi driver Im Mean as he stood near the bridge that links the city centre with the small island where festivities had been taking place.
"My children and relatives went the first and second day, it was so lucky that they did not come for the last day of the festival," the 47-year-old said, adding that he would not allow his children to visit Diamond Island next year.
Like huge swathes of the city, Diamond Island was in full party mode on Monday evening as the three-day festival, which attracted some three million visitors, drew to a close.
The island had hosted concerts, food and drink stalls and even an ice sculpture exhibition.
But the festive mood turned to shock as crowds on the packed bridge started panicking, triggering a deadly stampede -- and the worst incident to hit Cambodia in decades.
Television footage showed dozens of people piled on top of each other, some still alive and struggling to get out, others clearly dead. Many of the victims appeared to be young Cambodian women.
"I feel terrible," said Pek Luy, a 25-year-old Cambodian student as he and his friends discussed the night's events and strained to catch a glimpse of the bridge.
"People wanted to enjoy themselves and have fun, but then so many people died," he said.
"I think the people will feel scared to go across the bridge after this."
The country's leader expressed shock at the disaster.
"This is the biggest tragedy since the Pol Pot regime," Hun Sen said in a live television broadcast early Tuesday, referring to the leader of the brutal regime that ruled between 1975 and 1979 and left up to a quarter of the population dead.
More than 340 people had died in Monday's stampede, and more than 300 were injured, the premier added. It remains unclear what triggered the incident.
Hun Sen also said Cambodia would hold a national day of mourning on Wednesday.
Millions of people were out on the streets of the capital to enjoy the final day of the three-day Water Festival, which marks the reversal of the flow between the Tonle Sap and Mekong rivers.
