Phnom Penh: At least seven people died on Saturday when an under-construction building owned by a Chinese company collapsed at a Cambodian beach resort, officials said, as rescuers scoured the giant rubble heap for survivors.
The building went down before sunrise in the casino-resort town Sihanoukville in southwestern Cambodia, a rapidly developing tourist hotspot awash with Chinese investments.
Four people have been arrested in connection with the accident, including the Chinese building owner, the head of the construction firm and the contractor. A Cambodian landowner has also been held at provincial headquarters for questioning.
The seven-storey building was almost 80 per cent complete when it crashed down early Saturday, the deadliest such accident in recent years in Cambodia.
"Now the death toll from the building collapse is seven," Sihanoukville city police chief Thul Phorsda said, after officials earlier pinned the number of dead at three.
At least 21 people were reported injured - several critically - and at least three of the dead were Cambodian, including two workers and a translator.
Rescue workers in hard hats pulled people from a mountain of concrete, wood and twisted metal.
Medical workers attended to a shirtless injured man as concerned crowds built up around the site, while scores of soldiers and police joined the search for survivors.
"Teams continue to search for more victims," a provincial official statement said, adding that an investigation into the accident had been launched.
There was no confirmation of precisely how many people were at the building at the time of the collapse, though earlier officials said 30 people were feared trapped.
Around 50 workers would normally have been on the site at the time, Preah Sihanouk governor Yun Min said.
The building belonged to a Chinese national who rented the land from a Cambodian owner. The construction firm and contractor were both Chinese-owned as well.
Sihanoukville was once a sleepy fishing community before being claimed first by Western backpackers, and then wealthy Russians.
Chinese investment has flooded in in recent years, spurring a construction boom in a resort town known for its casinos which pull in mainland tourists.
There are around 50 Chinese-owned casinos and dozens of hotel complexes under construction.
Between 2016 and 2018, $1 billion was invested by Chinese government and private businesses in the Preah Sihanouk province, according to official statistics.
Cambodia, one of Southeast Asia's poorest countries, has notoriously lax safety laws and labour protections. Accidents are common at its building sites.
Phnom Penh: At least three people died when an under-construction building collapsed at a Cambodian beach resort early Saturday, officials said, with fears dozens more may be buried in the rubble.
The seven-storey building in the beach town of Sihanoukville, owned by a Chinese company, collapsed with workers inside.
"We have pulled out a body and we see two more bodies still stuck between debris," Yun Min, the governor of Preah Sihanouk province, told AFP, adding 13 people were injured.
Images showed excavators digging into the flattened debris in the hunt for dozens of other workers feared to be trapped inside.
"There are more than 30 people in the pile of debris from the building," Information Minister Khieu Kanharith said in a Facebook post, citing witnesses.
He said all of the dead were Cambodian, including two workers and a translator.
Governor Yun Min said around 50 workers would normally have been on the site at the time.
"We have rescued 20 so far... we still can't say exactly how many are trapped in the debris," he said, adding some may not have been at work at the time of the accident.
Rescue workers in hard hats heaved chunks of broken cement from the flattened building, looking for anyone buried underneath, while the diggers shunted twisted metal to the side.
Medical workers attended to a shirtless injured man, as concerned crowds built up around the site.
Chinese investment
The building belonged to a Chinese national who rented the land from a Cambodian owner.
Sihanoukville was once a sleepy fishing community before being claimed first by Western backpackers, and then wealthy Russians.
Chinese investment has flooded in in recent years, spurring a construction boom in a resort town known for its casinos which pull in mainland tourists.
There are around 50 Chinese-owned casinos and dozens of hotel complexes under construction.
Between 2016 and 2018, $1 billion (Dh3.67 billion) was invested by Chinese government and private businesses in the Preah Sihanouk province, according to official statistics.
Cambodia, one of Southeast Asia's poorest countries, has notoriously lax safety laws and labour protections. Accidents are common at its building sites.
