No need to jump to conspiracy theories though.

Am dealing steam boiler in cambodia for almost 6 years and most of the boilers i visited are not well maintain and most of them are not been certified. Fortunately, this boiler is in small size, or else the incident might be more complicated

Xien wrote: Am dealing steam boiler in cambodia for almost 6 years and most of the boilers i visited are not well maintain and most of them are not been certified. Fortunately, this boiler is in small size, or else the incident might be more complicated

You are right. The safety permit had expired.

Permit for boiler that exploded at Levi’s supplier, killing one, ‘had expired’
Mon, 27 March 2017

The boiler that exploded at a clothing factory last week killing one woman and injuring seven, including a pregnant employee, had an expired safety permit, the government said yesterday.

Phork Sovanrith, secretary of state at the Ministry of Industry and Handicrafts, said that Zhen Tai – a supplier to Levi Strauss & Co and Dutch chain C&A – was operating the boiler under a permit that had expired in early February.

“[Zhen Tai] didn’t come to us to extend the permit … [and so] no experts checked it, and as a result there is an explosion; this is the mistake of the factory,” he said, adding that the ministry has a team investigating the incident. “Legally [Zhen Tai] will face charges, because people died,” he said.
The factory’s boiler operator was detained a day after Wednesday’s blast.

Zhen Tai representatives hung up on reporters’ calls yesterday...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/p ... ad-expired

A spokesman for those responsible for issuing safety permits puts the full blame for the explosion on the worker.

Official Blames Factory Worker for Fatal Generator Explosion
March 28, 2017

An explosion at a Phnom Penh garment factory that killed one worker and injured seven others last week was caused by an operator who stoked a wood-fired generator because he wanted extra time for lunch, an official said on Monday.

“This accident happened because of carelessness. It wasn’t caused by a broken generator or technical error,” said Oum Sotha, a spokesman for the Industry and Handicrafts Ministry, which issues factory safety permits.

The worker responsible for the generator, Ou Vun, 26, was detained by Sen Sok district police on Wednesday and released without being charged following questioning by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Saturday, deputy district police chief Kouk Sokhou said on Monday.

While confirming that the safety permit for the generator at the Chinese-owned Zhen Tai factory, which makes jeans for U.S. brand Levi’s, had expired earlier this year, Mr. Sotha said the operator was to blame for the accident as he added extra wood to the generator while he was away.
“He wanted extra time for his lunch break,” he said.

A lapsed safety permit did not mean the generator would stop functioning or function improperly, Mr. Sotha said.
“It wouldn’t be broken immediately after [the permit] expired, but it would still be able to be used for a while,” Mr. Sotha said...
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/offi ... on-127134/

CEOCambodiaNews wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2017 11:08 am A spokesman for those responsible for issuing safety permits puts the full blame for the explosion on the worker.

Official Blames Factory Worker for Fatal Generator Explosion
March 28, 2017

An explosion at a Phnom Penh garment factory that killed one worker and injured seven others last week


was caused by an operator who stoked a wood-fired generator because he wanted extra time for lunch, an official said on Monday.

“This accident happened because of carelessness. It wasn’t caused by a broken generator or technical error,” said Oum Sotha, a spokesman for the Industry and Handicrafts Ministry, which issues factory safety permits.

The worker responsible for the generator, Ou Vun, 26, was detained by Sen Sok district police on Wednesday and released without being charged following questioning by the Phnom Penh Municipal Court on Saturday, deputy district police chief Kouk Sokhou said on Monday.

While confirming that the safety permit for the generator at the Chinese-owned Zhen Tai factory, which makes jeans for U.S. brand Levi’s, had expired earlier this year


, Mr. Sotha said the operator was to blame for the accident as he added extra wood to the generator while he was away.
“He wanted extra time for his lunch break,” he said.

A lapsed safety permit did not mean the generator would stop functioning or function improperly, Mr. Sotha said.
“It wouldn’t be broken immediately after [the permit] expired, but it would still be able to be used for a while,” Mr. Sotha said...
https://www.cambodiadaily.com/news/offi ... on-127134/

The amount of wood put into the fire has nothing to do with the explosion . If too much steam is produced by the fire it is released by the RELIEF SAFETY VALVE.

All steam pressure boilers have one and they are , tested and checked to make sure they are functioning as a part of getting the safety permit.

In our complex we are constantly replacing rusted out hot water cylinders. If their release valve fucks up they become bombs. There is a YouTube clip of some Aussies putting a hot water cylinder out in a paddock with the valve disabled. It goes off like a bomb.
I was surprised to learn years ago that most factories have wood fired boilers, it must still be the cheapest way.

willyhilly wrote: ↑Tue Mar 28, 2017 7:02 pm In our complex we are constantly replacing rusted out hot water cylinders. If their release valve fucks up they become bombs. There is a YouTube clip of some Aussies putting a hot water cylinder out in a paddock with the valve disabled. It goes off like a bomb.
I was surprised to learn years ago that most factories have wood fired boilers, it must still be the cheapest way.

There again is more misleading information. Any container whether it be a hot water cyl or other filled with water will not explode. If there is steam or air pressure in the container, then yes,, it will go off. If the Co,2 was not locked up in your coka or beer you would have the same results.

April 8 2017 at 11.50AM.
Another steam boiler exploded in a factory yesterday, killing the security guard and injuring at least two others at street 371 in Group 14, Russey village, Steung Meanchey commune, Meanchey district, Phnom Penh.



http://khmeread.com/posts/22849

Like the previous explosion, this one also occurred during the lunch break fortunately, or more people would have died. As it was, a security guard and a cleaning woman were killed in the fatal incident.
Notably it is mentioned that the boiler was old, cracked, and in bad condition, yet the factory had just opened. In this case, the factory looks to be fully responsible. How many more accidents before there are regular inspections and a crackdown on unsafe factory equipment ?

Boiler explosion at unregistered garment factory kills two
Mon, 10 April 2017
Authorities are investigating a boiler explosion at an unregistered garment factory that killed two and injured four others in the capital’s Meanchey district on Saturday, the second fatal boiler incident in a garment factory in the capital in less than three weeks.

Neth Mony Ponnaka, the director of the Phnom Penh Department of Industry and Handicraft said yesterday said that a specialised team will inspect the Chan Seng Heng garment factory – which opened on April 1 and was not yet registered with the department.
Calls to the factory – which police said employs 20 people – went unanswered yesterday. According to Mony Ponnaka, the boilers were “very old and second hand”.

The factory is not listed with the Garment Manufacturers Association in Cambodia and is likely a subcontractor, a sector of the industry that represents a significant regulatory gap according to the Solidarity Centre’s William Conklin...
http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/b ... -kills-two

Warning, weird zone.

‘Pitied’ Factory Owner Expects No Penalties
A woman speaking for the owners of an unregistered Phnom Penh garment factory where two workers died in an explosion on Saturday said on Wednesday that she had tried to bribe officials who turned up to investigate with money, but they only accepted boxes of soy sauce.

Cambodia Daily.