7 Thais Still Missing in Poipet Casino Fire
By Coconuts Bangkok
Jan 3, 2023 | 11:13am Bangkok time
Seven Thai nationals remained missing yesterday after a huge fire killed 26 at a casino just over the border in Cambodia, according to Thai authorities.

The bodies of 19 Thais have been repatriated home after the blaze broke out last week at the Grand Diamond hotel-casino located in Poipet, according to Thawatchai Boonsang, a senior Thai official in Aranyaprathet, Sa Kaeo province.

Poipet authorities announced a final toll of 26 killed and more than 100 injured. Of the 26 deceased, 17 were Thai, one Chinese, one Nepali and one Malaysian, according to The Phnom Penh Post. The other six have yet to be identified due to the severity of their injuries.

Seven others were still missing, Thawatchai said. The majority of the deceased were over 60. Their bodies were discovered in their bedrooms.

https://coconuts.co/bangkok/news/7-thai ... -official/

January 3, 2023
Lack of access thwarting fire rescue operations
The inferno that killed more than two dozen people at a casino in Poipet city has laid bare open the inadequate fire rescue mechanism and the difficulties rescue workers face during an operation.

Raising concerns, Lieutenant General Neth Vantha, director of Fire Prevention and Rescue Department of the National Police, said yesterday that the rescuers had a harrowing time in Poipet City as they struggled to reach out to the victims of the blaze that happened on the 17th floor of Grand Diamond City casino because of narrow lanes.

“Though we have sufficient human and professional resources, the tools and equipment were not adequate enough to handle the situation. We need to buy more modern equipment,” Lt Gen Vantha added.

He also expressed regret in the lacklustre attitude business owners to learn the fire safety as well as preventive measures. He said that building owners in Poipet are reluctant to cooperate with fire officers who tried to educate them about the fires safety measures.

He said that the Poipet fire tragedy underlined the need for coordinated efforts by all the stakeholders involved in the rescue operation – building owners, officers and firefighters – to bring down the casualties.

Phnom Penh Municipal Police deputy chief Sum Sokhim said that owners of the building did not cooperate with professional officers in the Poipet incident.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501212566/ ... perations/

Another body recovered. RIP
Cambodia News, (Banteay Meanchey): It was reported on January 11, 2023, that at 3:20 pm, the demolition team working at the site of the Grand Diamond City Casino in Poipet City had just found the remains of another victim of the 28 December casino fire.

According to the source, at 17:26, an ambulance took the body to the Poipet City Referral Hospital for a post-mortem examination.

The body was identified as Chavivat Peechapol, a 57-year-old Thai man, who had been reported missing. The post-mortem concluded that the cause of death was suffocation.

The body will be kept in the mortuary at the Poipet City Referral Hospital, waiting for the handover to the Thai side where it will be transported to the family.

Nirakar’s body to be brought tonight from Cambodia
Khabarhub
January 20, 2023
2 MIN READ
KATHMANDU: The mortal remains of Nirakar Pandey, 40, of Jhapa district, who died after jumping off the 12th floor of the Grand Diamond City Hotel and Casino in Cambodia when the hotel caught fire on December 30, 2022, is to be brought home tonight (Friday).

Bringing Pandey’s body to Nepal was delayed due to lack of verification process on the part of the Cambodian government officials.

Required documents of the deceased Pandey were sent to Cambodia from Nepal for verifying the dead body.

Pandey’s body would be brought home via Thailand on a flight of the Nepal Airlines Corporation (NAC) on Friday, Nirakar’s father Agni said.
The government has also decided to bear all the expenses incurred for bringing the dead body of Pandey.
https://english.khabarhub.com/2023/20/289920/

UPDATE
- Incredibly, the owner of the Grand Diamond City Casino in Poipet, [allegedly a fugitive from Thai justice hiding in Cambodia] ,who should be legally liable for the safety conditions in his casino, and who is therefore responsible for any deaths and injuries caused by negligence by casino management, [CEO News: the negligence in safety conditions appears to have been a major factor in both the cause of the fire and the number of resulting deaths], is now dictating the compensation rates he is willing to pay out for the Cambodian victims.

January 24, 2023
More misery: Owner won’t pay compensation to those hurt in Poipet casino inferno
Son Minea / Khmer Times
[excerpts]
The Thai owner of Grand Diamond City Hotel and Casino in Banteay Meanchey province is refusing to pay compensation to 57 Cambodians who were injured in the blaze in Poipet City on December 29.

Hor Thor, the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) provincial chief, said yesterday that the provincial authority had met with the owner to discuss compensation for the Cambodian victims of the blaze in which 28 people died.

Hor said that the casino owner refused to pay compensation for the injured Cambodians because all their injuries were minor and there is no contract to show that they were employees.

“If the DNA test results prove the blaze victim was a Cambodian, the provincial authority will make sure that the family gets the $1,000 compensation being offered,” he said.

Meanwhile, Khim Vong, the husband of Sam Sreymom, a 29-year-old casino staff who went missing after the fire, said yesterday that to date he has not found her.

“The authorities have informed me that they have conducted a DNA test to see if the body of the blaze victim could be that of my wife,” he said. Even if it is, I do not think that the $1,000 compensation offer by the casino owner is enough for the families of the deceased victims.”

During the December 29 blaze, there were about 500 workers and about 1,000 visitors in the Grand Diamond City Hotel and Casino at the Poipet-Aranyaprathet border crossing along the Thai-Cambodian border in Banteay Meanchey province.

There was panic when the fire broke out and photos and video from the scene showed people huddling on windowsills to escape the flames. One rescuer was reported by AFP as saying he saw people desperately jumping from the roof as the blaze inched closer.

Some of them died from the fall, some were burnt to death and others died from smoke inhalation. Bodies were found in exit ways and some in locked rooms.
Provincial authorities have said that the blaze was by a surge in electricity usage which overloaded the circuitry.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501224468/ ... o-inferno/

There have already been reports that the owner is going to rebuild the casino, so he must have some resources. The miserable fuck is only paying $1k per dead victim? The authorities could force him to do a lot better, if they gave a fuck.

because [...] there is no contract to show that they were employees.

imagine he gets through with it, that's not too much of an incentive for pursuing proper paperwork by an employer in future (for similar businesses)

Strangely enough...

54 seconds ago - BREAKING NEWS
Casino, which claimed 27 victims in 2022 inferno, burns again
In a grim reminder of the tragedy that took place at the Grand Diamond City Hotel and Casino in Poipet – where 27 people perished in a deadly fire on the 28th of December – the building caught fire again yesterday

Firefighters said that when the fire broke out in the third floor of the Grand Idea City Casino as workmen dismantled the burnt skeleton of the casino building

The fire – caused by welding equipment – burnt for around 30 minutes before firefighters could get it under control.
https://www.khmertimeskh.com/501225713/ ... rns-again/

Families of Missing Casino Workers Seek Compensation and Closure as Authorities Remain Vague Over Possible Cambodian Deaths
[excerpts]
Authorities have claimed no Cambodians died in the blaze which engulfed a Poipet casino in late December, but the relatives of one Khmer woman trapped in the building at the time of the fire have already held her funeral.

Cambodian authorities said they did not know the total number of Cambodian workers reported missing, but noted they had received multiple reports from families.

“I can’t tell you whether there have been any Cambodian workers dead or not,” Luos told CamboJA on Tuesday. Previously, he had claimed no Cambodians died in the fire.

The lack of clarity has frustrated families of missing workers. After the fire started, Bunnoeun searched for his sister-in-law for two days, including traveling across the nearby Thai border to seek information from authorities and health centers there.

“The Thai side told me that Cambodians who are injured or dead are in Cambodia, but the Cambodian side said [those people] are in Thailand,” Bunnoeun said. “I don’t know which source to believe.”

After rescue operations concluded on December 30, Banteay Meanchey governor Oum Reatry posted on his Facebook page: “There are no Cambodians dead or injured…”

“They [authorities] tend to know nothing and they just tell me there are no Khmer people dead in the casino building,” Bunnoeun said. “I am so speechless and don’t know what to say because the casino is located in Cambodia and they said there are no Khmer dead.”

Soum Chankea, Adhoc coordinator at Banteay Meanchey province said, relatives of workers could file a lawsuit against the company to receive compensation but only if the workers were confirmed dead. He added the casino seemed to lack emergency alarms and fire safety infrastructure such as water sprinklers and fire escapes.

“Because the authorities have claimed there are no Khmer workers dead, so the victim’s families have found it difficult to sue or get the compensation,” Chankea said.

Bunnoeun said that a Grand Diamond Casino representative from Thailand, who did not provide a name or contact, came to give the family 10,000 Thai baht ($299 USD) for funeral expenses and said the company would provide 5,000 Thai baht (about $150 USD) to support Thy’s children for the next three months, Bunnoeun said.

Bunnoeun said he felt Cambodian authorities were dodging responsibility to help families who had lost a wage-earner.
https://cambojanews.com/families-of-mis ... an-deaths/