Cambodia building collapse: seven people, including five Chinese nationals, charged over tragedy that killed 28 people in Sihanoukville
- The building’s Chinese owner and three other Chinese citizens have been charged with involuntary manslaughter, causing bodily harm and causing destruction of property
- A fifth Chinese national is on the run, as are a Vietnamese man and a Cambodian landowner
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Chinese building owner Cheng Kun was charged on Tuesday with involuntary manslaughter, causing bodily harm and causing destruction of property, according to a court warrant.
Three other Chinese citizens – contractor Deng Xin Gui, site manager Xie Ya Ping and engineer Gao Yu – were accused as accomplices on all three offences.
“Now they are in jail provisionally,” said Lim Bun Heng, a court spokesman in Preah Sihanouk province.
Another Chinese citizen, a Vietnamese man and a Cambodian landowner have also been charged as accomplices to manslaughter but remain on the run.
According to Cambodian law, all seven could face a three-year maximum sentence for manslaughter.
A close Beijing ally, Cambodia has seen an influx of investments from Chinese developers, including in the booming gambling hub of Sihanoukville.
But the building frenzy has raised concerns about substandard safety regulations in a country where most construction workers are informal day-labourers.
Cambodian authorities have launched an investigation into the fatal accident, which Prime Minister Hun Sen has blamed on “carelessness”.
Recriminations have been swift, with Preah Sihanouk’s governor Yun Min resigning Monday over managerial errors.
Another top disaster management official has been fired for not being “quick enough to respond”, said Hun Sen, warning others “to be more responsible”.
There are an estimated 200,000 construction workers in Cambodia, mostly unskilled, reliant on day wages and not protected by union rules, according to the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
At least 26 people were injured in the building collapse, which prompted a desperate, days-long search for survivors in the mound of rubble.
Sihanoukville was once a sleepy fishing town turned backpacker-favourite, but today is a hotspot for throngs of Chinese tourists.
There are more than 50 Chinese-owned casinos around the beachfront and dozens more under construction, including around the site of Saturday’s building collapse.
