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CAMBODIA-ACCIDENT-BUILDING LEAD
Seven dead in Cambodia building collapse
PHNOM PENH, June 22, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – At least seven people died Saturday
when an under-construction building owned by a Chinese company collapsed at a
Cambodian beach resort, officials said, as rescuers scoured the giant rubble
heap for survivors.
The building went down before sunrise in the casino-resort town
Sihanoukville in southwestern Cambodia, a rapidly developing tourist hotspot
awash with Chinese investments.
Four people have been arrested in connection with the accident, including
the Chinese building owner, the head of the construction firm and the
contractor. A Cambodian landowner has also been held at provincial
headquarter for questioning.
The seven-storey building was almost 80 percent complete when it crashed
down early Saturday, the deadliest such accident in recent years in Cambodia.
“Now the death toll from the building collapse is seven,” Sihanoukville
city police chief Thul Phorsda said, after officials earlier pinned the
number of dead at three.
At least 21 people were reported injured — several critically — and at
least three of the dead were Cambodian, including two workers and a
translator.
Rescue workers in hard hats pulled people from a mountain of concrete, wood
and twisted metal.
Medical workers attended to a shirtless injured man as concerned crowds
built up around the site, while scores of soldiers and police joined the
search for survivors.
“Teams continue to search for more victims,” a provincial official
statement said, adding that an investigation into the accident had been
launched.
There was no confirmation of precisely how many people were at the building
at the time of the collapse, though earlier officials said 30 people were
feared trapped.
Around 50 workers would normally have been on the site at the time, Preah
Sihanouk governor Yun Min said.
The building belonged to a Chinese national who rented the land from a
Cambodian owner. The construction firm and contractor were both Chinese-owned
as well.
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/ARS/1739 hrs