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Agence France-Presse

Rescuers on Sunday picked through the rubble of a collapsed Chinese-owned building in Cambodia in a desperate search for survivors, after the construction site accident killed at least 24 people.
One person was pulled alive from the flattened seven-storey building late on Saturday, more than 12 hours after it collapsed in the beach resort of Sihanoukville.
Provincial authorities said as of Sunday afternoon, half of the debris at the site had been cleared.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said on Sunday he was heading to Sihanoukville to oversee the rescue operation.

Construction workers said the unfinished building doubled up as housing quarters, with the crew spending nights on the second floor.
Nhor Chandeun and his wife were asleep when they heard a loud noise and the building crumbled on top of them at around 4am on Saturday.
Dozens feared buried in Cambodia after Chinese-owned building collapses
“All the workers were asleep,” the 31-year-old said from a hospital in the city. “A moment before the building collapsed it was vibrating and then it was falling down. But it was too quick to escape.”
The Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training said 30 workers were at the site when the building collapsed, but Nhor Chandeun said there were about 55 to 60 people inside the building.




Nhor Chandeun and his wife were trapped for 12 hours before rescuers found them.
“My wife and I kept calling for help,” he said. “We were shouting and shouting but there was no sound replying to us and we presumed that we would die under the rubble.”
He added: “Fortunately the rescuers found me in time.”
How Chinese money is changing Sihanoukville
The once sleepy fishing village has seen a Chinese construction boom buoyed by tourists to its dozens of casinos in recent years, with questions raised on the speed of development in a nation notorious for lax safety standards.
Yun Min, the governor of Preah Sihanouk province, said the building was owned by a Chinese investor who leased land for a condominium – one of many Chinese projects in the thriving beach resort.
Three Chinese nationals and a Cambodian landowner have been held for questioning over the building collapse, which Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen blamed on “carelessness” by the construction company.

At least 1,000 rescuers, soldiers, police, medics and Chinese construction experts have been deployed to the site.
Some wore hard hats and oxygen tanks as they searched alongside several construction diggers, while the relatives of the injured waited at nearby hospitals for news.
In Bangkok, Southeast Asian leaders expressed their condolences to Cambodia, whose leader was among heads of state attending the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) in the Thai capital.
The 10-nation regional bloc announced a new project for the region to respond better to disasters and emergencies.

The southwestern town of Sihanoukville is awash with Chinese investment that has sparked a building frenzy to cater to mainland tourists flooding the town’s city’s casinos, beaches and glitzy hotels.
Beijing is pouring investment into Cambodia as part of its behemoth Belt and Road Initiative, a sweeping trillion-dollar infrastructure programme across Asia, Africa and Europe.
Around US$1 billion was invested in the Preah Sihanouk province between 2016 and 2018 alone, and there are around 50 Chinese-owned casinos and dozens of hotel complexes under construction in Sihanoukville.

Cambodia’s prime minister said victims’ families would be given US$10,000 each.
“The tragedy of the building collapse in Preah Sihanouk province is painful … for our nation, especially the families of those who lost [their lives],” Hun Sen said earlier on Sunday.
The building was nearly 80 per cent complete when it collapsed around 4am on Saturday.
Why Cambodian property is attracting Chinese investors
The owner of the building, the head of the construction firm and the contractor – all Chinese nationals – have been detained by Cambodian police.
A Cambodian landowner has also been held for questioning, and officials said they have launched an investigation.
Though accidents are common at construction sites in Cambodia, where safety laws and labour protections are notoriously lax, Saturday’s building collapse is the deadliest in recent memory.
Additional reporting by Associated Press


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Cambodia

Cambodia building collapse: rescuers scour rubble in desperate search for survivors, as death toll rises to at least 24

A Cambodian man who lost a daughter in the building collapse. Photo: EPA-EFE

epa07667554 A Cambodian rescue team searches for missing workers at the site of a collapsed building on a construction site in Preah Sihanouk province, Cambodia, 23 June 2019. A new seven-story building owned by a Chinese company, collapsed in Preah Sihanouk province, killing at least 18 workers and leaving 24 workers injured, according to reports. EPA-EFE/MAK REMISSA

epa07667551 Cambodian injured workers receive medical care at a hospital in Preah Sihanouk province, Cambodia, 23 June 2019. A new seven-story building owned by a Chinese company, collapsed in Preah Sihanouk province, killing at least 18 workers and leaving 24 workers injured, according to reports. EPA-EFE/MAK REMISSA

epa07667558 A Cambodian woman sobs after losing her niece in a building collapse during a ceremony at a hospital in Preah Sihanouk province, Cambodia, 23 June 2019. A new seven-story building owned by a Chinese company, collapsed in Preah Sihanouk province, killing at least 18 workers and leaving 24 workers injured, according to reports. EPA-EFE/MAK REMISSA

Rescuers search for missing workers at a collapsed building in Preah Sihanouk. Photo: EPA-EFE

Why are Chinese workers so unpopular in Southeast Asia?

Filipino policemen guard Chinese nationals detained for allegedly working illegally. Photo: AFP

(FILES) This photo dated 14 May 1998 shows angry Indonesian mobs burning cars and Chinese shops as they plundered shops in Jakarta on the third day of violence, which brought terror to the Indonesian capital and which left hundreds dead or injured in days of rioting. Indonesia went through a traumatic twelve months in 1998, seeing random rioting across the archipelago and the fall of former president Suharto after 32 years in power. AFP PHOTO/CHOO YOUN-KONG

Shops in major malls in Manila, capital of the Philippines, have started allowing payments by WeChat Pay and Alipay, the digital payment methods that are widely popular in China. This picture was taken at a supermarket in the Mall of Asia in Manila. 30MAY19 SCMP / Phila Siu

A Chinese Indonesian man offers incense as he prays, 02 October 2002, at the 300-year-old historical Buddhist temple "Vihara Dharma Bhakti" in the Glodok area, or Jakarta's Chinatown, an area mobbed and looted by angry Indonesian paupers during riots in 1998. Indonesia's economic crisis and political corruption still makes Chinese Indonesians, including other foreigners living in Indonesia, feel restless about living in Indonesia. More than six million Chinese Indonesians still live in Indonesia, with most Indonesians feeling that the Chinese community holds the real commercial supremacy in the country. AFP PHOTO/CHOO Youn-Kong (Photo by CHOO YOUN-KONG / AFP)

Pilo Hilbay, formerly the country’s Solicitor General, posed for pictures in Manila, capital of the Philippines. He represented the Philippines when the country took China to the international tribunal at The Hague over conflicting soverignty claims at the South China Sea. The Philippines won in 2016 but the administration has failed to press China to respect the court’s decision, he said. 30MAY19 SCMP / Phila Siu

Pictures of the China Town in Manila, the capital of the Philippines. 30MAY19 SCMP / Phila Siu

In Manila, capital of the Philippines, some police vehicles carry the Chinese flags and the words “Donated by the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China” were spotted. 30MAY19 SCMP / Phila Siu

Shops in major malls in Manila, capital of the Philippines, have started allowing payments by WeChat Pay and Alipay, the digital payment methods that are widely popular in China. This picture was taken in the Mall of Asia in Manila. 30MAY19 SCMP / Phila Siu

Manila’s Chinatown in Binondo district. Photo: Phila Siu

Death toll rises to 18 in Russian apartment block collapse

Emergency personnel work at the site of collapsed apartment building after a suspected gas blast in Magnitogorsk, Russia December 31, 2018. Photo: Handout via Reuters

A still image taken from a video footage showsaA rescuer carries a 10-month-old child found alive in the rubble of a Russian apartment block that partially collapsed after a suspected gas blast in Magnitogorsk, Russia January 1, 2019. Minister of Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief/Handout via REUTERS TV ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE WAS PROVIDED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.

Emergency personnel work at the site of collapsed apartment building after a suspected gas blast in Magnitogorsk, Russia December 31, 2018. Minister of Civil Defence, Emergencies and Disaster Relief/Handout via REUTERS. ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES.

Dozens feared buried in Cambodia after Chinese-owned building collapses

Rescuers use earthmovers to clear debris after a building collapsed at a construction site in Sihanoukville on Saturday. Photo: AFP

epa07665074 A Cambodian rescue team performs search and rescue duties at the site of a collapsed building at a construction site in Preah Sihanouk province, Cambodia, 22 June 2019. A new seven-story building owned by a Chinese company, collapsed in Preah Sihanouk province, killing at least three workers and leaving 18 workers wounded. EPA-EFE/ROS PINA

Rescue workers recover a body from the rubble of a collapsed building in Preah Sihanouk province, Cambodia Saturday, June 22, 2019. A seven-story building under construction collapsed in the coastal city of Sihanoukville early Saturday, killing a few workers, authorities said. (Nokorwat News via AP)

This aerial photo taken on June 22, 2019 shows a collapsed building at a construction site in Sihanoukville. - At least three construction workers died when a seven-storey building collapsed in Cambodia early June 22, officials said, with fears dozens more may be buried in the rubble. (Photo by Ly LAY / AFP)

People watch as rescuers use an earthmover to clear debris. Photo: AFP

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Southeast Asia

Three Chinese nationals and a Cambodian landowner have been held for questioning over the building collapse
Prime Minister Hun Sen said victims’ families would be given US$10,000 each


Three Chinese nationals and a Cambodian landowner have been held for questioning over the collapse of the building, which is the deadliest in recent memory.


Chinese offshore investment

Belt and Road Initiative

Infrastructure

Cambodia building collapse: rescuers scour rubble in desperate search for survivors, as death toll rises to at least 24

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;}Three Chinese nationals and a Cambodian landowner have been held for questioning over the building collapse Prime Minister Hun Sen said victims’ families would be given US$10,000 each

Three Chinese nationals and a Cambodian landowner have been held for questioning over the building collapse

Prime Minister Hun Sen said victims’ families would be given US$10,000 each