Cambodia building collapse death toll rises to 36

Thirty-six people were killed and 23 more injured when a tourist guesthouse under construction inCambodiacollapsed, trapping workers under rubble, officials said on Sunday (January 5).

Officials said rescue operations ended two days after the seven-storey concretebuildingcollapsed on Friday (January 3) in the coastal town of Kep, about 160 km (100 miles) southwest of the capital Phnom Penh.

The36dead included six children and 14 women, officials said in a statement that did not detail why children were at the construction site. Kep Governor Ken Satha said that the owners of thebuilding, aCambodian couple, had been detained for questioning.

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The Kepbuildingcollapsecame six months after 28 people were killed when a Chinese-owned construction sitecollapsed in Preah Sihanouk province. Seven people were charged with involuntary manslaughter and Hun Sen fired a disaster management official over that accident

Cambodiais undergoing a construction boom to serve growing crowds of Chinese tourists and investors.