A second fire in two days has swept through a Phnom Penh slum, killing one person and leaving several thousand homeless, officials said today.
Up to 10,000 people were made homeless on Monday after a fire ripped through another sprawling shanty town in central Phnom Penh.
The latest fire broke out late last night and gutted a shanty town of nearly 800 wooden shacks in the Meanchey district of southeast Phnom Penh, the officials said.
The municipality is cooperating with the Cambodian Red Cross to feed and provide temporary shelter for these people, Phnom Penh Governor Chea Sophara said.
Chea Sophara said the second fire was started by people using open flames to keep warm during the seasonal cold period.
"Normally in the cold months (November and December) fire damage like this happens," he said. Fires are common in Cambodian squatter communities where thousands of people pack together in flimsy wooden huts.
Last night’s fire was the fourth this year to gut squatter camps in the capital.