Rescuers searched the charred ruins of a Cambodian hotel and casino on Friday as the death toll in a fireplace that forced others to jump out of windows rose to 25.
Hundreds of others are believed to have been inside the Grand Diamond City site in the town of Poipet across the Thai border when the fire broke out Wednesday night.
“The death toll now is about 25,” said Sek Sokhom, director of the Banteay Melanchey province news service, adding that some of the bodies were on the stairs.
Photos and videos from the scene show other people huddling in window frames to escape the flames, and a rescuer told AFP he saw other people desperately jumping from the roof as the chimney approached.
Earlier, a Cambodian police official told AFP they thought “there were still many more bodies trapped inside” as rescuers began entering the destroyed compound.
Hundreds of Cambodian infantrymen and police, as well as Thai volunteers, are on the lookout.
Smoke was still rising from the compound Friday as rescuers were ready to enter buildings around 7 a. m. , with fire trucks waiting at the scene.
Jakkapong Ruengdech, team leader at Thailand’s Poh Teck Tung Foundation, told AFP it had to be decided whether there was still a lot of smoke or a chimney inside.
Another rescuer from the group, who asked not to be identified, described the construction as “unstable” and said the search was continuing with caution.
Many of the injured were taken to Thailand for treatment, and the local government on the Thai side said more than 50 more people had been hospitalized, adding thirteen in critical condition.
The casino is one of many in Poipet, a city border popular with Thais facing strict gambling restrictions in their country.
Thailand’s Foreign Ministry said it is working intensively with the Cambodian government to locate and identify the Thais involved in the incident and send “additional equipment, consular officials and a police attaché” to Poipet.
Although gambling for Cambodians is also illegal under the country’s laws, many casino-filled hot spots have flourished along the borders with Thailand and Vietnam.
A Grand Diamond City employee, who asked not to be identified because it could be her job, told AFP she was running on the third floor of the 17-story hotel wing when the chimney burst.
“At first, it wasn’t a massive fire,” he said. But she and a colleague were soon forced to flee into the open air as flames began to advance toward them.
“They happened massively quickly,” she said, still shocked by the death and destruction.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday expressed his condolences to the victims, calling it a “tragedy. “
On Thursday, Thai rescuers were forced to cancel their efforts in the late afternoon, and the situations of a Ruamkatanyu Foundation official were too damaging to continue.
A hundred rescuers had invaded the compound that day, some wearing heavy protective gear, searching for survivors or bodies.
But they struggled to succeed in portions of the casino.
There is still no indication of the cause of the fire, the latest in a series of fires that have roiled entertainment institutions in the area.
In August, a fireplace at a Thai nightclub killed another 26 people and injured dozens, while a fireplace at a Vietnamese karaoke bar killed another 32 people the following month.
Concerns have long been raised about a lax method for health and protection standards in parts of Southeast Asia, in the region’s countless bars, nightclubs and other entertainment venues.
by Suy SE / Panisa AEMOCHA