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26 bodies found as search ends at Cambodian hotel fire site

Published:Friday | December 30, 2022 | 1:32 PM
Thai ambulances drive through a ruined building as they head back toward the Thailand border at the scene of a massive fire at a Cambodian hotel casino in Poipet, west of Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Friday, December 30, 2022. The fire at the Grand Diamond City casino and hotel Thursday injured over 60 people and killed more than a dozen, a number that officials warned would rise after the search for bodies resumes Friday. (AP Photo/Heng Sinith)

POIPET, Cambodia (AP) — The search for bodies in the wreckage of a burned-out casino hotel complex in western Cambodia has concluded with 26 people confirmed dead, a senior official said late Friday.

Banteay Meanchey province Governor Um Reatrey told The Associated Press by phone that after 39 hours of rescue and search operations, there were also 57 injured survivors from the Wednesday night fire at the Grand Diamond City casino and hotel in the town of Poipet.

Seventeen of the dead were from Thailand, one each from Nepal, Malaysia and China, and six bodies were yet to be identified, he said.

The Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office of Thailand's Sa Kaeo province, just across the border from Poipet, said there had been 27 deaths — 26 in Cambodia and one in a Thai hospital.

It said of the 112 people injured, 27 remained in hospitals and 85 had returned to their homes.

Thailand, which provided firefighting and rescue assistance, was where many of the injured were taken for treatment.

Thais made up a large proportion of the guests and employees at the casino complex.

Searchers failed to find new bodies Friday afternoon at the disaster site, although more dead had been expected to be found.

The blaze at the Grand Diamond City complex started late Wednesday night and was extinguished more than 12 hours later on Thursday afternoon.

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