More than 20 Chinese nationals are missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Cambodia, a Cambodian official said on Friday.
The ship had 41 Chinese on board and was in trouble on the plain of Sihanoukville (southwest) on Thursday, Preah Sihanouk province spokesman Kheang Phearom told AFP, adding that only 18 people could be rescued.
The once-quiet fishing village of Sihanoukville has been transformed in recent years by a boom in Chinese investment, including the opening of dozens of casinos.
However, there is mounting evidence that Chinese workers are being smuggled and smuggled to work illegally in the city.
Police questioned the survivors while the search for the other passengers continued, the spokesman said: “We are looking for the 23 missing.”
Provincial police chief Chion Narin told pro-government newspaper Fresh News that a representative of those on board told them they left China on September 11 from a port in Guangdong province by speedboat.
Almost a week later, they were taken onto a wooden boat by two Cambodian crew members, the police chief said, before their boat began to sink after a breakdown on Thursday.
The police officer added that a fishing boat picked up the two Cambodians and abandoned them, leaving the passengers behind.
According to the provincial spokesman, the two Cambodian nationals were arrested for questioning.