No deaths in blaze at capital club

FIRE tore through a Phnom Penh nightclub on Tuesday morning, completely destroying the building, a fire official said. The blaze at 2ND Club struck at about 6am, with the initial blame falling on an electrical malfunction.

“After the initial assessment, we suspect that the fire was triggered by an electrical malfunction,” Ministry of Interior’s fire prevention department director Nath Vantha told on the same day.

While no casualty was reported, Vantha estimated the financial loss caused by the accident to more than $1 million.

“[2ND Club] is considered to be a high-end club in the capital. The building is estimated to be worth more than $1 million.”

The fire was extinguished at 9am, with as many as 36 fire trucks deployed at the scene. Vantha said the operation also involved hundreds of police officers and an excavator – which was used to knock the walls down.

Vantha requests all building and construction site owners to install electrical systems in accordance to proper technical specifications. This, he said will make it easier for firefighters to extinguish the flames when such incidents occur.

A Ministry of Interior report revealed that there were 444 fires during the first eight months of this year, killing 17 people and razing one market to the ground.