Foreign Ministry working to identify, retrieve bodies from Poipet casino blaze
The Foreign Ministry is working with Cambodian forensic authorities to identify Thai victims of the huge fire that gutted a Poipet casino and contact their relatives to transport their bodies home.
At least 19 bodies have been found so far but the death toll is expected to surge. Dozens of Thai workers and customers are believed to have been trapped inside the Grand Diamond City Hotel and Casino when fire tore through the building on Wednesday night.
The casino-hotel complex is located near the Ban Klong Luk checkpoint in Sa Kaew’s Aranyaprathet district and owned by convicted fugitive Thai politician Vatana Asavahame.
Firefighters brought the blaze under control by noon on Thursday, by which time the complex was gutted.
The ministry has ordered the Royal Thai Embassy in Phnom Penh to work with local authorities to help Thais and their family members in Cambodia who have been affected by the fire.
The embassy has compiled a list of Thais in Cambodia and prepared travel documents in case they want to return home, ministry spokeswoman Kanchana Patarachoke said on Thursday.
Meanwhile, Sa Kaew authorities have set up an emergency help centre in the parking lot of Aranyaprathet district office on Thursday. The centre will coordinate with relatives of Thais who were working or residing in the hotel to locate and identify their relatives in case they are among the injured or deceased. The centre can be reached by phone at 081 172 2603 or 063 901 2903.
