A 27-year-old man was killed when a sudden collapse of land buried him in the underground water tank he was installing for an apartment building in Banteay Meanchey province’s Poipet City on Thursday, a police official said.
Duch Phoeng had climbed into the tank to retrieve a water pump when the land that had been dug to fit the tank collapsed on top of him, burying him two meters underground, according to Poipet commune police chief Im Sopheareak.
“Some of the workers tried to help but could not because the collapsed land was too heavy,” he said.
According to the police chief, Mr. Phoeng was an independently employed construction worker at the site, the owner of which he identified only as a Khmer businessman.
“We can’t arrest anyone as he was not hired through a construction company to do the work,” he said, adding that the land, which was freshly dug, was made additionally soft by rain, causing the collapse.
Mr. Phoeng’s family is negotiating compensation with the building owners, he said.
