About ten people were killed when a fire ripped through a hotel and casino in the Cambodian border town of Poipet, police said.
According to a preliminary Cambodian police report obtained by Agence France-Presse (AFP) on Thursday, the fire broke out at the Grand Diamond City hotel-casino in Poipet city, near the Thai border, on Wednesday about 11:30 p.m. local time (16:30 GMT).
The report indicated that “approximately 10 people died and 30 people injured”.
According to local media, officials in Poipet, 400 kilometers (250 miles) northwest of the capital Phnom Penh, said “more than ten people” killed and more than 30 were injured in the inferno at the casino, which is popular with gamblers and vacationers from neighboring Thailand.
According to the Phnom Penh Post news site, Nhem Phoeng, chief of administration at Poipet’s municipal offices, the fire, which had been contained by Thursday morning, killed largely Cambodian and Thai staff at the casino.
The injured were taken to hospitals in Aranyaprathet, Thailand’s neighboring city in Sa Kaeo province.
Thai authorities in Sa Kaeo province later stated that more than 50 victims of the fire had been hospitalised there, with public health director Prapas Pookduang telling AFP that 13 people were “on life support”.
Social media videos showed the enormous edifice engulfed in flames and what appeared to be individuals jumping from the blazing complex.
According to a Thai foreign ministry source, they were collaborating closely with local authorities and had sent firefighting vehicles and emergency personnel from Thailand to combat the flames.
According to a volunteer with the Thai rescue organization Ruamkatanyu Foundation, the fire started on the first level but soon spread over the carpets, shooting up through the multi-story building.
The Grand Diamond City is one of a number of casino-hotels clustered along the Thai-Cambodian border.
Aljazeera
