The fire consumed tools and raw materials including thousands of metres of yarn and fabric. Preah Sihanouk Provincial Hall
A fire caused severe damage to a textile factory in Commune I, Preah Sihanouk, on September 19, said provincial deputy police chief Bou Sothy who is in charge of explosive ordnance and fire.
Sothy told The Post on Sunday that after surveying the scene and interviewing guards at Lin’s Textile Co Ltd, police believe the fire could have been caused by an electrical failure.
“A security guard said they could smell burnt wire and see smoke from the warehouse, but they could not enter because it was locked,” he said, adding that nobody was injured in the blaze.
Sothy said the fire consumed tools and raw materials including thousands of metres of yarn and fabric.
Lin’s Textile general manager Lin Yati told The Post on Sunday he does not yet agree with the assumption of officials claiming the fire was caused by an electrical failure.
All electricity networks in this warehouse and production plant of this factory were turned off as the factory allowed its workers to take a one week break to celebrate Pchum Ben with their families, he said.
“I still do not know about the exact cause of this fire, but I do not support the police assumption. We turned off the electricity in our factory and our workers did not work. At no point was there any electrical failure. We want a further investigation into the fire,” he said.
Yati said he could not evaluate the losses yet. “I still need to check the goods list,” he said.
In a separate case, local authorities reported a fire at Samrong Yong Market in Bati district, Takeo province. The fire claimed 230 out of 282 shops on Thursday, the last day of Pchum Ben.
Takeo provincial deputy governor Yos Nasy told The Post that the fire is estimated to have consumed about $8 million in goods as shops were burned and damaged almost entirely.
Mech Marika a rising Khmer actress who has a shop in the market told local media that goods in her shop cost about $20,000.
“I am in so much despair I could not sleep for two nights because I kept thinking of all the bags and shoes at my shop,” she said.
