59 Dead and Injured in Kep Building Collapse

• 5 January 2020
• Local News
• 4253 Views

After more a rescue mission lasting more than 43 hours, a total of 59 dead and injured were confirmed as a result of the building collapse in Kep, according to a press conference given by Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen.

According to Samdech Techo Hun Sen, the building collapse in Kep province on 03 January killed 36 people (14 women) and left 23 people injured (15 men and 8 women).

While expressing his condolences to the victims, Samdech Techo Hun Sen also highlighted two primary reasons leading to the collapse of the seven-storey building, which was about 90% complete.

: “Firstly, it is the designing, this big steel!! It is the wrong placing of steel, the steel is smaller than the level of technical requirement; this is the first fault. The second fault is related to the cement floor because normally the plywood is removed after 27 or 28 days, but based on the information we received, he removed the plywood after 10 days in order to move to the next level”.

According to Samdech Techo, the contractor whose negligence caused the accident died with his child in the accident, but legal action is still ongoing for the construction owners who have been arrested by the authorities.

In response to the criticism of the Kep governor’s responsibility in this matter, Samdech Techo Hun Sen has decided not to remove the governor from his post because he thinks this is not the fault of the provincial governor, but rather is an accident.

Samdech Techo Hun Sen said that the rescue operation was carried out with the cooperation of all relevant institutions and conducted in a very careful way to save the lives of the surviving victims and with respect for the dead bodies.

As of 05 January 2020, funds to help victims from various donors totalled more than US$1 million, of which, the injured victims received US$10,000, but for the special cases of the last few victims, each received US$ 20,000. Each family who lost a family member in the accident received US$50,000 and another 10 million riel for the funeral.

In June last year, a seven-storey building collapsed in Sihanoukville and left more than 40 people dead and injured and the collapse of a pagoda in Siem Reap in December injured about 20 people. (Read More)

Photo facebook: SPM

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