Two fires ripped through buildings in Phnom Penh on Thursday morning, including a blaze at a garage just 20 meters from the Royal Palace palace that left two workers with serious burns, officials said.
Prum Yorth, chief of the municipal fire department, said the fire at the Atiker Autogas System and LPG Tanks garage was caused by a gas leak and started at about 10:40 a.m.
The conflagration was finally extinguished by three fire trucks, Mr. Yorth said.
“[The gas] came into contact with heat and caused a fire; two men got injured because they were hit by the gas fire,” he said, adding the victims were rushed to a private clinic.
In a separate incident that occurred at about the same time, a blaze in Prampi Makara district resulted in no injuries but destroyed one flat before being brought under control by 15 fire engines, he said.
The municipal fire department has been called to 132 fires in Phnom Penh this year, resulting in 10 deaths and 10 injuries, according to Mr. York, compared to six deaths and four injuries in 86 cases in 2014.
