The death toll from the fire that broke out last night at a hotel casino in Poipet, a town in north-west Cambodia on the border with Thailand, has risen to at least 25. The local authorities report this.
Images posted to social media show the huge building on fire. The injured were transported to hospitals in Thailand’s neighboring Sa Kaeo province, a Thai Foreign Ministry source said. “The authorities – he explained – are also trying to bring the fire under control with the help of fire engines arriving from Thailand.”
The fire, which would have started on the first floor of the casino hotel, quickly spread to the other floors due to the carpet covering the floors of the building. About 400 people work in Grand Diamond City, according to police. At the time of the fire, foreign nationals were also in the building. There are many casinos that have sprung up on the border with Thailand and are particularly popular with Thai customers who cannot play in their own country due to restrictions.
Several fires have broken out in nightclubs in recent months, often due to a failure to follow basic safety rules. Last August, a fire at a nightclub near touristy Pattaya in Thailand claimed 26 lives, mostly young people, who were attending a party. A month later, 32 people died when flames broke out at a karaoke bar on the outskirts of Ho Chi Minh, Vietnam.
REPRODUCTION RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
]]>
Get the embed code
]]>