A Cambodian court last week charged seven people including five Chinese nationals with involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy after 28 people died in a collapsed building on June 22.
According to Reuters, 26 people were injured after the Chinese-owned building collapsed in the coastal town of Sihanoukville, in recent months a hub of Chinese-funded casino and resort development. In response to the disaster, Prime Minister Hun Sen fired a top disaster management official and accepted the resignation of Yun Min, governor of Preah Sihanouk Province.
Prosecutors charged building owner Chen Kun and construction supervisor Deng Xing Gui with involuntary manslaughter, causing unintentional injuries and damage, according to the Preah Sihanouk Provincial Court. Three other Chinese nationals, a Vietnamese and a Cambodian, were charged with conspiracy related to the charges, the court documents showed.
Two people were pulled from the rubble two days after the collapse. “It’s like I was just reborn, I did not have hope that I would survive,” Ros Sitha, one of the survivors, told news agency AFP after his rescue. “I screamed for help, but nobody heard me. But at last they heard me when rescuers came closer to the spot and they pulled me out.”
The BBC reported that Sihanoukville, once a bucolic fishing village, “has changed beyond recognition over the last three years with the construction of dozens of hotels and casinos catering almost solely to Chinese tourists.”
The news network added that Cambodia has “notoriously lax labor laws, putting construction workers at risk.”
The International Labor Organization has expressed concern about the “exposure of workers to constant safety and health hazards” on building sites.
