Officials said that a fire at a casino in Cambodia claimed the lives of at least 19 individuals, with many more believed dead. A rescuer told me that victims threw themselves from a ledge in a last-ditch effort to escape the flames.
The Grand Diamond City hotel-casino in Poipet, northwest Cambodia, which is visible from the Thai border, caught fire late on Wednesday night.
According to the remains and bones we have found, there are currently 19 deceased, according to Sek Sokhom, the provincial information director for Cambodia’s Banteay Meanchey province. He cautioned that given that rescuers had not yet reached all areas of the complex, the number “may be greater.”
An unnamed volunteer with the Thai rescue organisation Ruamkatanyu Foundation claimed that when his team arrived at the scene at around 2:00 a.m. (07:30 gmt), they witnessed people jumping from the building.
He claimed, “I saw individuals racing out of the building to get away from the smoke.” Others gathered on top of a building to escape the flames.
The volunteer continued, “Then we observed several people jumping down.”
Video showed the flaming building, firefighters battling to put out the fire, and rescuers trying to pull people off a burning ledge.
In one film, a man is shown sitting on a window sill while smoke pours out from behind him. In another, a group of individuals scramble to a ledge as flames approach.
According to a source in the Thai foreign ministry, there had been close coordination with the Cambodian government, “even by sending in fire trucks from the Thai side.”
More than 50 casualties were hospitalised there, according to Thai authorities in the adjacent province of Sa Kaeo. According to local public health official Prapas Pookduang to AFP, thirteen of them were “on life support.”
According to Sa Kaeo Governor Parinya Phothisat, about 60 more people who were caught in the fire have already been examined and released by Thai hospitals.
Thirty Cambodians, eight Indonesians, and 79 Thai nationals, according to him, were treated at Thai hospitals.
According to a Ruamkatanyu Foundation volunteer, the fire started on the first floor but quickly spread up through the multi-story building along carpets.
Two remains had been recovered, according to Naphat Klonkliang, an officer with the foundation, who spoke to AFP.
The officer said that the smoke was the main reason why the rescue team had such a hard time at first.
During the day, more than 100 people came to help, and some of them wore bulky safety gear to search the building for survivors.
As dusk approached, the rescue teams got ready to break for the evening.
Working in these circumstances is risky, according to 53-year-old Satit Surungsit of the Thai Poh Teck Tung Foundation rescue team.
Casino-hotel hotspot
Cambodia is one of the poorest countries in Southeast Asia, and people who live there are not allowed to gamble in its casinos.
But these hotel-casinos are widely dispersed near the Thai border. Thailand is a popular travel destination for tourists, and the majority of gambling is prohibited there as well.
The fire comes after two other tragic occurrences at nightclubs this year, one each in Thailand and Vietnam.
In August, a nightclub fire in Thailand left 26 people dead and dozens more injured.
The next month, a fire in a karaoke bar in southern Vietnam claimed the lives of 32 individuals.
Health and safety rules in the area have long been criticised as being too lax, especially in the region’s numerous taverns, nightclubs, and other entertainment establishments.
