Monitoring Desk
ISLAMABAD/ CAMBODIA: Cambodian rescue authorities recovered eight more bodies on Friday from the charred rooms of a casino hotel, taking the total death toll to at least 27.
The Cambodian authorities said that more than 20 people were still missing and search was under way.
Casino fire
According to Reuters, about 400 employees and patrons were in the Grand Diamond City casino and hotel in Poipet, a town on the Thai border, when a fire broke out in the early hours of Thursday, leaving the building gutted by the afternoon.
It is still unclear what led to the blaze, but Banteay Meanchey provincial information department head Sek Sokhom said that it may have been due to an electrical short circuit. A government committee has been set up to investigate the cause of the fire.
Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday expressed condolence to the families of the victims and urged officials to improve fire safety and response timing.
Safety standards in Cambodia and other parts of Southeast Asia are well below global standards and poorly enforced.
Rescue authority said that they had to move slowly through the smoldering remains of the building in case it collapsed.
Many of the victims were Thai, rescue employees said, and dozens of wounded people were taken over the border to the Thai province of Sa Kaeo for treatment.
