BANTEAY MEANCHEY: As of Thursday afternoon, 29 December 2022, a large-scale fire at a casino in Poipet killed nearly 20 people and injured nearly 60 others.

As of 4 pm, although the fire was extinguished, smoke and flames continued to spread as the joint police force was searching for the victims trapped in the burning building.

According to Deputy Governor of Banteay Meanchey Province, Ngor Mengchruon, during the fire, numerous guests and casino staff trapped on the building panicked and jumped from the building, causing deaths and injuries. These undividuals were aken to the Thai Department and Poipet City Referral Hospital.

The blaze caused three buildings to burn almost completely down, starting with the Grand Diamond City building in the south and continuing to burn through the bridge over the Grand Diamond City Casino building north of the road and spread. A fire broke out in the Poipet City casino building on the west side.

According to preliminary information, the cause of the fire was an electric shock from the billboard traces on the basement of the Grand Dynamite Casino, which has a 17-story building on the south side.

During the casino fire, Minister of Interior and DPM Sar Kheng, along with the National Disaster Management Committee led a team to visit the fire site.