'No More Survivors' In Cambodia Building Collapse As Toll Hits 24

Sihanoukville, Cambodia, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 24th Jun, 2019 ) :The retrieval of bodies from a building collapse in Cambodia continued Monday, as the death toll rose to 24 with no further survivors expected to be found under the debris of the seven-storey Chinese-owned construction site.

Workers clawed back the rubble overnight as a grim-faced Cambodian premier Hun Sen visited the scene of the collapse in Sihanoukville, a beach town undergoing a Chinese investment bonanza.

The night was punctuated by grim processions of bodies on stretchers being carried to waiting ambulances.

On Monday morning, an AFP reporter saw a partially buried body, covered by a mosquito net to keep off flies in the searing heat, as the debris began to yield after 48 hours of excavation by hand, pneumatic drills and diggers.

"We don't expect any more survivors," a soldier who has manned the scene throughout told AFP, requesting anonymity.

Preah Sihanouk provincial officials put the death toll at 24, with a similar number injured.

Distraught relatives at a local hospital said around a dozen people were believed to be entombed in the concertinaed floors of the building, which collapsed before dawn on Saturday as dozens of workers slept.

"I lost my husband and my nephew," Khim Pov, 47, crying and hugging her daughter, told AFP while her son -- who was able to crawl out from the debris -- received treatment.

"I don't have any hope my husband has survived. The bodies being pulled out have been flattened."Other survivors said they woke to a loud bang and managed to escape as the building folded in, leaving dozens of workers stranded on upper floors.