Two children were killed Saturday morning when a fire ripped through their families’ shared home in Sihanoukville, a police official said Sunday.
The fire at the house in the coastal city’s Pi commune was started at 5:10 a.m. by an electrical short circuit, according to Preah Sihanouk provincial police chief Seang Kosal.
“The fire completely burned one house and killed two children, a 9-year-old boy and a 7-year-old girl, while they were asleep,” he said.
The victims, Si Tha, 9, and Chov Sroeu, 7, were apparently left behind when their families fled the house after the fire broke out, Mr. Kosal said.
“The two families were shocked and they ran for their lives and they forgot to take their children out of the fire,” he said, adding that three fire trucks managed to extinguish the blaze before it spread to neighboring houses.
