POIPET, Cambodia (AP) — The confirmed death toll from a large fire at a casino hotel complex in western Cambodia rose to 25 on Friday because the search resumed for victims, officials said.
The blaze on the Grand Diamond City casino and hotel within the town of Poipet on the Thai border began around midnight Wednesday and was extinguished greater than 12 hours in a while Thursday afternoon.
By Friday morning, 25 bodies had been recovered from the location, based on Sek Sokhom, head of Banteay Meanchey province’s information department. He said six bodies were found Friday morning, some of their rooms and others on stairways.
Greater than 60 people were injured, he said, and the death toll was expected to rise once rescuers are capable of access victims who’re believed to be under debris or in locked rooms.
The Grand Diamond City casino complex has 500 employees, and it had 1,000 customers Wednesday, based on a report from Soth Kimkolmony, a spokesperson for Cambodia’s National Committee for Disaster Management. It was unclear what number of were present when the fireplace broke out, and what number of managed to flee to safety.
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An accurate toll of the casualties has been hard to acquire resulting from the chaotic rescue efforts and since a lot of those saved were rushed across the border for treatment in neighboring Thailand, which has higher medical facilities.
Thai and Cambodian rescue teams have been working side-by-side in searching the 17-story complex, but paused their efforts overnight on the dangerously damaged site.
A lot of those inside, each customers and staff, were from neighboring Thailand, which sent firetrucks and emergency staff to assist.
Thailand’s Sa Kaeo Provincial Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office has counted 11 dead — all Thai — and 109 injured, including 57 in hospitals.
An initial investigation found that the fireplace can have been brought on by Latest 12 months’s holiday decorations that drew an excessive amount of electricity, causing wires to overheat and burn, local authorities said.
Khmer Times, a Cambodian English-language news website, quoted Poipet city governor Keat Hul describing the chaos when the fireplace broke out.
“Hotel and casino staff used fire extinguishers to stop the fireplace but to no avail. People were panicking and rushing about all over the place but mainly for the closest exit,” he said. “I used to be told that there was a stampede out on the important entrance when black smoke was billowing through the constructing.”
He was quoted saying he believed most of the deaths got here from smoke inhalation and a few people died after they leapt from high stories to flee the flames.
Poipet in western Cambodia is a site of busy cross-border trade and tourism opposite town of Aranyaprathet in additional affluent Thailand.
Casinos are illegal in Thailand. Many Thais visit neighboring countries similar to Cambodia — a preferred tourist destination with convenient international connections — to gamble. Poipet has greater than a dozen casinos.
The Grand Diamond City casino is just a brief walk from the border checkpoint with Thailand and popular with customers who make the four-hour drive from the Thai capital, Bangkok.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen made his first public comments on the tragedy in remarks to villagers Friday morning at a road repair ceremony within the southern province of Kampot.
He expressed his condolences and said the incident showed that each one tall buildings within the country will need to have sufficient equipment to fight fires. He also gave due to all of the individuals who worked within the rescue effort, including those from Thailand.
Associated Press author Chalida Ekvitthayavechnukul in Bangkok contributed to this report. Sopheng Cheang reported from Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
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