POIPET, Cambodia (Reuters) – A fire that broke out overnight at a hotel casino in Poipet, Cambodia, killed at least 19 people and injured 60, Cambodian authorities said on Thursday.
The Grand Diamond City, located on the border between Cambodia and Thailand, is very popular with Thais, as gambling is prohibited in their country.
This vast complex employed some 400 people.
About 30 people are still missing, said Sek Sokhom, director of the information department of Banteay Mean Chey province.
“We could exceed twenty dead,” he said.
Cambodian police said the blaze, which occurred around midnight, was now under control and hundreds of military, police and emergency services were at work.
The cause of the accident remains unknown at this time.
At least 25 people have been admitted to hospitals in Thailand’s Sa Kaeo province, Thailand’s health ministry said.
(Report Chayut Setboonsarng and Jiraporn Kuhakan in Bangkok and Prak Chan Thul in Phnom Penh, written by Martin Petty; French version Lina Golovnya, edited by Sophie Louet)
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