• Society

Poipet Inferno: Victims Relatives’ Despair Grows as DNA Results Are Still Pending

• By Teng Yalirozy
• January 10, 2023 5:41 PM

PHNOM PENH – The relatives of the missing victims in the devastating casino fire in Poipet​ still await new information on the DNA tests that were performed to find out the identity of the last six unidentified bodies.

Authorities say they do not yet have the results in their hands, 10 days after a massive fire reduced to ashes the Grand Diamond City Hotel and Casino in Poipet city on Dec. 29, claiming at least 26 lives.

Heang Bunnoeun, whose sister-in-law Oeur Thy, 43, has been missing since the accident, said he has not been alerted of any update from the authorities. He filed a complaint to declare a missing person 10 days ago.

He said he went to a hospital in Thailand, where the injured were taken, to try to find his sister-in-law. But she was nowhere to be seen.

While his hope to see her alive is gradually fading away, he still wants to know whether Oeur Thy died during the fire or is alive somewhere.

“We can only file a complaint, but [there is] no solution,” said Bunnoeun. “The authorities pushed all responsibility to the Thai side. Ten days have passed, we have little hope now.”

Cambodian authorities said on Jan. 4 that DNA tests would be conducted to try to put a name on the last six bodies that couldn’t be identified.

Banteay Meanchey Provincial Spokesperson Sek Sokhom said on Jan. 9 that he had not obtained any new detailed information about the DNA autopsy. He told reporters to refer to Deputy Governor of Banteay Meanchey province Ngor Mengchruon.

The latest said the autopsy was still ongoing and didn’t know about its outcome, redirecting additional questions to the General Expertise Office, which could not be reached.

Similarly, Banteay Meanchey Governor Oum Reatrey hung up the phone when reporters tried to ask for updated information, saying he was in a meeting.

The fire started in the Grand Diamond City Hotel and Casino in Poipet around midnight on Dec. 29, 2022, raging until mid-morning. About 1,500 people, of whom 1,000 were guests, were reported to be in the hotel when the fire broke out.

At least 26 people died in the incident, including 17 Thais, one Malaysian, one Nepalese, and one Chinese. More than 50 people were injured.

After the search for the body was closed, Province Governor Oum Reatrey stated that no Cambodians were injured or killed.

But six bodies remain unidentified and the odds that some of them are Cambodian nationals are high.

The missing victim Oeur Thy is indeed a Cambodian citizen. She was a cleaner at the Grand Diamond City Hotel and Casino, working night shifts.

Her disappearance leaves six children with no parent, as Thy and her husband have been divorced.

Her brother-in-law, Heang Bunnoeun said that only Thai people have so far come to his house to give a 10,000 baths compensation (about $300).

While he said he wasn’t sure of who they were, they are likely representatives of the casino, which is Thai-owned.

He said he would use the money for her funeral, even though Oeur Thy’s body is yet to be identified.

The same Thai people also guaranteed a 5,000 baths (about $150) allocation per month for three months to sustain the six children until Bunnoeun’s family can figure out a solution for the children’s future.

Bunnoeun is unfortunately not the only person looking for a Cambodian relative that might have disappeared in the Dec. 29 blaze.

Keo Vandy, whose husband has also been missing since then, said she is waiting for confirmation on whether her husband has died or is still alive.

Her husband, Keo Visoth, 48, was the casino's chief of staff and started his work at 10 p.m. that night.

She said it is strange that Visoth’s motorbike is also missing. Visoth was a person who loved his family and would return straight to home after work.

“Losing him is like losing the major income earner for our family,” said Vandy. “It will be very difficult as we have to pay a rental fee and daily expenses.”

Visoth is a father of three children, the youngest of whom is only 8 years old.

The casino is being demolished and a new building will be constructed to attract tourists again.