A rainstorm Wednesday afternoon in Phnom Penh blew away a 14-square-meter section of tiles from the roof of the municipal traffic police department building in Russei Keo district, an officer and official interviewed at the site said Wednesday.
When reached later by telephone, Tin Prasoer, chief of the municipal traffic police, said he was unaware of the incident and that any damage was due to the storm, not shoddy construction.
“It is built to standards,” he said of the two-level structure, which he said dates from late 2005 or early 2006.
“It was storming,” an official, who declined to give his name, said Wednesday, standing underneath the hole in the roof of the traffic police department building. Rain coming through the newly made opening had apparently knocked down a handful of lightweight ceiling tiles, which were in shards on the hallway floor, along with bits of the heavier clay tiles.
“It hurt no one in here, and all the people just escaped and went downstairs,” the official said.
The roof of at least one other nearby government building lost a few tiles in Wednesday’s storm.
Traffic police officer Mun Dara, interviewed at the damaged building, said the storm started at about 1 pm and lasted for a half hour, blowing tiles off the roof, with a few making small dents in a nearby car. He said the winds were very strong during the storm.
