Four killed in Cambodia building collapse

January 04, 2020 | 08:24

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Four people were killed and more than a dozen injured when a seven-storey building under construction collapsed in southern Cambodia on Friday (Jan 3) trapping workers under the rubble, an official told AFP, as the search for more victims went into the night.

four killed in cambodia building collapse

Rescuers look for trapped workers after a seven-storey building under construction collapsed in southern Cambodia's coastal Kep province on Jan 3, 2020. (Photo: AFP/Nget Touch)

The building in coastal Kep province was meant to be a hotel but crumpled at around 4:30pm, with photos showing concrete floors sandwiched together as heavy machinery moved in to help clear the wreckage.

Cambodian leader Hun Sen said in a Facebook post he was travelling to the site and he arrived late Friday evening.

Sixteen people were injured in addition to the four who died, Ros Udong, spokesman for the Kep provincial administration, told AFP by phone.

Deadly accidents plague the kingdom's building sector even as the country has enjoyed a construction boom.

In June nearly 30 people died after the collapse of a building under construction in Sihanoukville, a beach town undergoing a Chinese investment bonanza.

Last month at least three workers died and more than a dozen others were seriously injured after an under-construction dining hall at a temple collapsed in the tourist town of Siem Reap.

There are an estimated 200,000 construction workers in Cambodia, most unskilled, reliant on day wages and not protected by union rules, according to the International Labour Organisation.

AFP

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