The cost of a blaze that ripped through a backpack factory in Phnom Penh’s Dangkao district last Tuesday amounted to almost $1 million, an administrator at the factory said Monday.
The fire at the New Pex factory, which produces the Yonex, INGS and Sanwei brands of backpacks, was ignited by a faulty electrical wire, according to factory administrator Suong Piseth, who said the firm was seeking an insurance claim.
“Forte Insurance has asked us to prepare documents showing the goods and materials destroyed by the fire,” Mr. Piseth said, adding that about $500,000 worth of destroyed stock was finished bags while $400,000 of the damage was in lost materials.
Sok Vannara, deputy chief of the Phnom Penh Fire Department, confirmed that a defective electrical wire caused the fire.
Eric Poh, fire investigator at Forte Insurance, said the company would carry out an inspection of the site before commenting on the estimated payout.
“It will take about a month to work out whether the factory’s [financial estimate] is accurate,” he said.
