It took 16 fire trucks to extinguish a blaze that ripped through a textile factory in Kompong Speu province on Wednesday, destroying about one quarter of the building but leaving workers unscathed.
The fire, which erupted at the Taiwanese-owned New Best Global Textile factory in Samraong Tong district’s Kaheng commune at around11:10 a.m., was likely caused by an electrical fault, Kompong Speu provincial police chief Keo Pisey said.
“There were no worker injuries or deaths because workers had already left to have lunch at 11:00 a.m.,” he said.
Fifteen additional trucks were brought in from the fire departments of Kandal province, Phnom Penh municipality and Royal Cambodian Armed Forces Brigade 70 to assist the only available one in Kompong Speu, Mr. Pisey said.
“The factory was burned about 24 percent. Now the owner of the factory is calculating the cost of the damage,” Mr. Pisey said.
Kompong Speu provincial labor department director Chak Borin said he would discuss the incident with the owners of the factory, which employs 656 workers.
The factory’s management declined to comment.
