A fire broke out at the Grand Diamond City Hotel Casino in Poipet near. The Thai border late Wednesday night, Cambodian police said.
Poipet Cambodia:
A Cambodian casino fire has killed at least 19 people and many more are feared dead. With a rescuer describing how victims threw themselves off a ledge in a desperate bid to escape the blaze.
A fire broke out at the Grand Diamond City Hotel Casino in Poipet. Near the Thai border late Wednesday night, Cambodian police said.
“So far we can see 19 bodies and bones.” Said Sek Sokhom, director of Cambodia is Bante Manche provincial information department Warning. “The number could be higher” because rescuers have yet to reach parts of the complex.
A volunteer with the Thai rescue group Ruamkatanyu Foundation. Who spoke on condition of anonymity. Said his team arrived around 2 a.m. (0730 GMT). And saw people jumping from buildings.
“I witnessed people running from the building to escape the smoke.” He said, adding that a group was also packed on a roof to escape the fire.
“Then we saw some people jump down,” he said.
The video shows the building engulfed in flames. Firefighters struggling to contain the blaze and rescuers trying to pull people out from a burning ledge. In another, a group of people cling to a ledge as they approach a fire.
A Thai foreign ministry source said they were coordinating closely with local authorities. “Including sending fire trucks from the Thai side”.
Thai authorities in neighboring, Sa Kaew province later said more than 50 infected people had been hospitalized there. With local public health official Prapas Pukduang telling AFP that 13 were “on life support”.
Sa Cai Governor Parinya Phothisat said about 60 others trapped in the fire had already been checked and cleared by Thai hospitals.
He said Thai hospitals treated 79 Thai nationals, 30 Cambodians and eight Indonesians.
The Ruamkatanyu Foundation volunteer said”, The fire started on the first floor. But quickly spread along the carpet after jumping through the multi-storey building.
Nafat Klonkliang, an official at the foundation, told AFP they recovered two bodies.
“The rescue team was struggling initially and the main reason was smoke,” the officer said.
– Hotel-casino hotspot –
Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia.
But there are numerous hotel-casinos along the Thai border. With Poipet a popular holiday destination for visitors from Thailand. Where most forms of gambling are also illegal.
The fire follows two other deadly incidents at entertainment venues in Thailand and Vietnam this year.
In August, a fire broke out at a Thai nightclub, killing 26 people and injuring many more.
The following month, a fire at a karaoke bar in South Vietnam killed 32 people. Particularly in its myriad bars. Nightclubs and other entertainment venues.
In 2009 a massive fire broke out at a New Year’s Eve party at the Sankey Santika club in Bangkok. Killing 67 people and injuring more than 200.
Santika is owner was jailed for three years for the fire. Which was started by fireworks while a rock band was playing on stage.
