ZCZC
BFF-22
CAMBODIA-ACCIDENT-BUILDING
Three dead, dozens feared buried in Cambodia building collapse
PHNOM PENH, June 22, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – At least three people died when an
under-construction building collapsed at a Cambodian beach resort early
Saturday, officials said, with fears dozens more may be buried in the rubble.
The seven-storey building in the beach town of Sihanoukville, owned by a
Chinese company, collapsed with workers inside.
“We have pulled out a body and we see two more bodies still stuck between
debris,” Yun Min, the governor of Preah Sihanouk province, told AFP, adding
13 people were injured.
Images showed excavators digging into the flattened debris in the hunt for
dozens of other workers feared to be trapped inside.
“There are more than 30 people in the pile of debris from the building,”
Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said in a Facebook post, citing
witnesses.
He said all of the dead were Cambodian, including two workers and a
translator.
Governor Yun Min said around 50 workers would normally have been on the
site at the time.
“We have rescued 20 so far… we still can’t say exactly how many are
trapped in the debris,” he said, adding some may not have been at work at the
time of the accident.
Rescue workers in hard hats heaved chunks of broken cement from the
flattened building, looking for anyone buried underneath, while the diggers
shunted twisted metal to the side.
Medical workers attended to a shirtless injured man, as concerned crowds
built up around the site.
The building belonged to a Chinese national who rented the land from a
Cambodian owner.
Sihanoukville was once a sleepy fishing community before being claimed
first by Western backpackers, and then wealthy Russians.
Chinese investment has flooded in in recent years, spurring a construction
boom in a resort town known for its casinos which pull in mainland tourists.
There are around 50 Chinese-owned casinos and dozens of hotel complexes under
construction.
Between 2016 and 2018, $1 billion was invested by Chinese government and
private businesses in the Preah Sihanouk province, according to official
statistics.
Cambodia, one of Southeast Asia’s poorest countries, has notoriously lax
safety laws and labour protections. Accidents are common at its building
sites.
BSS/AFP/SSS/1134 hrs