Cambodian casino fire kills 19, dozens more feared dead

Smoke and fire rise from buildings after a fire incident at the Grand Diamond Casino, in Poipet, Banteay Meanchhey Province, Cambodia, in this still image taken from a social media obtained on December 29, 2022. Facebook/Chaeam Noosung/via REUTERS

POIPET, Cambodia (Reuters) -At least 19 people, many of them Thais, were killed and up to 30 were missing after a fire tore through a casino-hotel complex in a Cambodian town on the Thai border, officials said on Thursday.

About 400 employees and patrons were in the Grand Diamond City casino and hotel in the town of Poipet when the fire broke out around midnight, leaving the building charred and gutted by Thursday afternoon.