Casino burns briefly in Cambodian capital, guests evacuated

Casino burns briefly in Cambodian capital, guests evacuatedPhnom Penh - About 100 foreign guests at Phnom Penh's only legal casino and its adjoining hotel were evacuated after a fire broke out, sending smoke billowing and all the Cambodian capital's fire units into action, a casino official and police said Saturday.

Around 300 Cambodian, Malaysian and other staff were also evacuated, police said.

A man who identified himself as a senior official for the NagaCorp Hotel but declined to be named said the blaze looked worse than it was and there had been no injuries.

"I am not sure what started it at this stage, but everyone is out and no one has been hurt," he said, adding that the blaze had been contained to one area at the back of the building.

At least 50 firefighters and volunteers worked for around three hours to control the blaze and around 100 more police kept crowds back from the riverfront property, which cost 100 million dollars and is designed to accommodate 900 guests, according to the company.

It rubs shoulders with the nation's multi-million dollar brand new National Assembly, or parliament, which was not damaged in the blaze.

The NagaCorp official declined to say what nationalities had been evacuated, but the casino is a favourite haunt of South Korean, Singaporean, Malaysian and Chinese visitors especially.(dpa)

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