Compensation Sought for Building Collapse Victims

Cambodian Embassy officials in Bangkok are working with Thai police to file a complaint against the owners of a construction company that was building a condominium on the city’s outskirts that collapsed Monday to get compensation for three Cambodians who died in the accident.

According to Thai media accounts, Thai authorities have so far confirmed the death of three construction workers in the collapse of the six-story U-Place condominium being built in Pathum Thani province and identified at least one of them as a Thai.

Cambodian Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong said three Cambodian men had also died in the building collapse. He identified them as Im Phear, 27; Yat Pheng, 19 and Uch, 27. Another Cambodian worker, Chhim Chan, 60, was injured, he added.

Mr. Kuong said they were all working in Thailand illegally and in the process of applying for documents to legitimize their stay.

“Our embassy officials in Thailand are working on this case,” he said. “Currently, they are working with Thai police to file a complaint against the owner of the construction company to demand compensation for the dead and injured workers.”

Mr. Kuong said he did not know whether the bodies of the Cambodians had been recovered from the rubble yet or what, if any, compensation the victims would be entitled to.

“We don’t know about the compensation because it depends on Thai law,” he said.

According to the Bangkok Post, a Thai court in Pathum Thani province had approved arrest warrants for five “construction bosses” allegedly at fault for the collapse. The paper reported that they had been charged with “recklessness causing death.”

Also according to the paper, the official death toll as of Wednesday afternoon remained at three, though four to five more people were believed to be trapped in the debris.

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