{"id":644830,"date":"2019-06-23T10:20:35","date_gmt":"2019-06-23T10:20:35","guid":{"rendered":"
\"Rescue<\/p>\n
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\"Rescue<\/div>\n

Rescue workers in a Cambodia beach town have picked through the rubble of a collapsed Chinese-owned building in a desperate search for survivors after the construction site accident killed at least 17 people.<\/p>\n

One person was pulled alive from the flattened seven-storey building late on Saturday, more than 12 hours after it collapsed, in the beach resort of Sihanoukville.<\/p>\n

Several bodies were retrieved from the rubble, sending the death toll up to 17, with 24 injured.<\/p>\n

At least 1,000 rescue workers, soldiers, police, medics and Chinese construction experts have been deployed to the site but, by Sunday morning, they had scoured barely half the debris.<\/p>\n

A provincial official said \u201cteams have searched about 40 percent of the debris\u201d, prompting concerns the toll will rise.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe fear more bodies are trapped in the debris because the search has not reached the bottom of the building yet,\u201d the official told AFP, requesting anonymity.<\/p>\n

It is not clear how many people were at the site at the time of the collapse, but a local official said earlier there would normally have been about 50 workers on the building site at the time.<\/p>\n

The once sleepy fishing village has seen a Chinese construction boom, buoyed by tourists flocking to its casinos, beaches and glitzy hotels in recent years, raising questions around the speed of development in a nation notorious for lax safety standards.<\/p>\n

\u2018Carelessness\u2019<\/strong><\/p>\n

Cambodia\u2019s Prime Minister Hun Sen blamed the incident on \u201ccarelessness\u201d by the construction company.<\/p>\n

The owner of the building, the head of the construction firm and the contractor \u2013 all Chinese nationals \u2013 have been detained by Cambodian police.<\/p>\n

A Cambodian landowner has also been held for questioning, and officials said they have launched an investigation.<\/p>\n

Beijing is pouring investment into Cambodia as part of its behemoth Belt and Road initiative, a sweeping trillion-dollar infrastructure programme across Asia, Africa and Europe.<\/p>\n

Around $1bn was invested in the Preah Sihanouk province between 2016 and 2018 alone, and there are around 50 Chinese-owned casinos and dozens of hotel complexes under construction in Sihanoukville.<\/p>\n

Hun Sen said the victims\u2019 families would be given $10,000 each.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe tragedy of the building collapse in Preah Sihanouk province is painful\u2026 for our nation, especially the families of those who lost (their lives),\u201d Hun Sen said.<\/p>\n

The building was nearly 80 percent complete when it collapsed around 4am on Saturday (21:00 GMT on Friday).<\/p>\n

Though accidents are common at construction sites in Cambodia, where safety laws and labour protections are notoriously lax, Saturday\u2019s building collapse is the deadliest in recent memory.<\/p>\n

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