A kiln exploded at a South Korean-owned factory in Poipet City’s Phsar Kandal commune on Tuesday night, seriously injuring a repairman and four workers, an official said yesterday.
The repairman caused the explosion at SC Wado Component (Cambodia), which manufactures hard disks, when he did not properly turn off a valve on a gas tank connected to the kiln before making repairs, commune police chief Mean Menghoung said.
The gas leaked from the valve and exploded when it reached the kiln, seriously burning the five people, including the repairman and an Indian national, 38-year-old Morich Kras, Mr. Menghoung said.
Other workers tried unsuccessfully to put out the blaze by using fire extinguishers before a fire truck arrived, he added. “The accident was caused by the carelessness of the repairman,” he said. “He fixed it without checking it properly” before he started to make repairs, he said.
The victims were sent to a nearby clinic, and later transferred to another hospital by relatives, he added.
