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A fire that lasted more than 12 hours in a hotel-casino in Cambodia killed at least 19 people and injured more than 60, officials said, while other victims apparently have not been accounted for.
Neighboring Thailand sent fire trucks and emergency workers to help deal with the crisis in the bustling border town of Poipet.
Some victims are believed to be still in the rubble or in locked rooms inaccessible to rescue teams, so the death toll is expected to rise, said Sek Sokhom, head of the provincial information department of Banteay Meanchey, who also gave the casualties.
The dead and wounded were from several nationalities, including Thai, Chinese, Malaysian, Vietnamese and Cambodian, he said. The local Buddhist temple is used to receive the remains.
A video posted on social media shows people falling from the roof after they were trapped by fire at the Grand Diamond City casino and hotel in the city of Poipet. Many customers and staff are from Thailand.
A large fire in the hotel casino that burned for hours in Poipet, Cambodia, has killed at least 19 people and injured more than 60 others.
In a video posted by Cambodian firefighting agents, onlookers can be heard shouting for help from people trapped on the roof of the hotel complex, which is more than a dozen stories high at its highest point. The video showed at least one person falling as the fire reached the roof.
“Oh, help me. Pump the water, pump the water,” shouted an onlooker.
The Department of Fire Prevention, Firefighting and Rescue was sent that calls for help were heard from the 13th, 14th and 15th floors at 4 am and hands were seen waving from the windows as well as mobile phone flashlights signaling from inside the complex.
“The fire was massive, and it was inside the casino, so it was difficult for our water cannons to reach,” observed the firefighter in a video posted online by the fire department. He said that was the reason why the fire continued to burn for so long.
The death toll is expected to rise
The fire, which started around midnight local time on Wednesday, was finally extinguished at 2pm on Thursday, Sec Sokhom said, adding that rescue operations were continuing.
He also said that a preliminary investigation found that the fire may have been caused by overloading because the New Year’s decorations added electricity, causing the wires to heat up and catch fire.
Banteay Meanchey Police Chief, Sithi Loh, said earlier that 360 emergency personnel and 11 fire trucks have been sent to the scene of the fire, the cause of which is not yet known.
“Right now, we are trying to bring the bodies from the building down. I don’t think there will be any survivors because the smoke is so thick,” Montri Khaosa-ard, staff member of Ruamkatanyu Foundation Thailand, social welfare. organization that sent volunteers to the emergency site, said Friday afternoon.
“Even all of us (rescue staff) have to wear the right equipment when we enter the building, otherwise we can’t breathe.”
Thai and Cambodian rescue teams worked together on Thursday to search the heavily burned area.
Thailand’s public television network, Thai PBS, reported that 50 Thais, both staff and customers, have been trapped in the casino complex. It is reported that the Cambodian authorities have requested help to fight the fires from Thailand, which sent five fire trucks and 10 rescue vans.
Poipet in western Cambodia opposite the Thai city of Aranyaprathet is more affluent, and is busy with cross-border trade and tourism.
PBS Thai cited reports that Aranyaprathet Hospital’s emergency ward was full and other victims had to be sent to other hospitals.
Casinos are illegal in Thailand, but neighboring countries such as Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos host lucrative industries. Cambodia has a particularly active casino industry because the Southeast Asian country is also a popular tourist destination with convenient international connections.
A report received from Soth Kimkolmony, spokesman for the Cambodia National Committee for Disaster Management, said the complex casino Grand Diamond City 500 employees, with 1000 customers there. It is unclear how many were present at the time of the fire.
The casino is just meters from the Thai border checkpoint and is popular with customers who make the four-hour drive from the Thai capital, Bangkok.
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