Rescuers scoured the charred ruins of a Cambodian hotel and casino complex Friday as the death toll from a fire that forced people to jump from windows rose to 25.
Hundreds of people are believed to have been inside the Grand Diamond City venue, located in the town of Poipet within sight of the Thai border, when the blaze broke out late Wednesday night.
Earlier, a Cambodian police officer told AFP they believed "there are many more bodies still trapped inside" as rescuers began entering the gutted complex. Jakkapong Ruengdech, a team leader with Thai rescue group the Poh Teck Tung Foundation, told AFP they needed to establish if there was still intense smoke or fire inside.
Thailand's foreign ministry said it was working closely with Cambodian authorities to find and identify Thais involved in the incident and was sending "additional equipment, consular officers and a police attache" to Poipet. "At first, it was not a huge fire," she said. But she and a co-worker were soon forced to flee outside when the flames began rampaging towards them.Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen on Friday expressed condolences to the families of the victims, calling it a "tragedy."On Thursday, Thai rescuers had been forced to call off their efforts as night fell, with an officer from the Ruamkatanyu Foundation saying conditions were too dangerous to continue.
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