Cambodia Casino fire search for survivors
2022.12.30 07:07
Cambodia Casino fire search for survivors
Budrigannews.com – In the charred rooms of a casino-hotel where a fire had killed at least 27 people a day earlier and where more than 20 people are still missing, Cambodian rescue workers found several bodies on Friday.
The Grand Diamond City casino and hotel in Poipet, a town on the Thai border, was home to about 400 employees and guests when the fire broke out in the early hours of Thursday. By the afternoon, the building had been completely destroyed.
The cause of the fire is unknown, but Sek Sokhom, the head of the provincial information department for Banteay Meanchey, suggested that it could have been caused by an electrical short circuit. An investigation was being conducted.
In the event that the building collapsed, authorities were instructed to proceed cautiously through the smoldering remains.
Video footage shared by the Thai volunteer rescue organization Ruamkatanyu Foundation showed that dozens of rescue workers lined up outside the site on Friday and took turns going room by room through the building while heavy machinery was used to clear the blackened debris.
One person who survived said that they saw a light fixture release sparks that caused flames to reach the ceiling.
“Then things started to get out of hand. “I don’t think it was ok after the fire hit the ceiling,” a casino patron who was on the floor at the time, Piyapol Sukkaew, told Thai television station Channel 7.
The incident lasted for half an hour before the fire trucks arrived. Smoke was everywhere in just five minutes.”
Friday, Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen offered his condolences to the victims and their families and pleaded with authorities to speed up fire response times and improve fire safety.
In Cambodia and other parts of Southeast Asia, safety regulations can be weak and far below international standards.
Hospitals in Sa Kaeo on the Thai side of the border, according to provincial official Chanathip Khokmanee, have treated at least 112 people for burns, broken bones, and respiratory issues.
According to rescue workers, the majority of the victims were Thai, and dozens of injured individuals were transported across the border to the Thai province of Sa Kaeo for treatment.
Casinos in Phnom Penh, the capital, and on the borders with Vietnam and Thailand are a big draw for tourists from Asian countries that don’t allow gambling.
Because gambling is against the law across the border and there are unlicensed casinos operating underground there, those in Poipet employ Thai workers and are extremely popular with short-term Thai visitors.
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