Cambodia shoe factory collapse kills at least one – police

PHNOM PENH, Cambodia – A ceiling collapse at a Cambodian shoe factory killed at least one worker on Thursday, May 16, police said, with regional industrial safety in the spotlight after last month’s disaster in Bangladesh.

“One worker was killed and six others were injured,” National police spokesman Kirt Chantharith told AFP, adding that part of the concrete ceiling at the factory in southern Kampong Speu province had crashed onto staff while they were working.

Last month a 9-storey factory complex outside Dhaka collapsed, killing 1,127 people in one of the world’s worst industrial disasters and prompting pressure on Western retailers that rely on cheap labour in the region, where safety standards are often poor.

One worker at the Cambodian factory said police and some staff were working to rescue people from the rubble.

“Every day more than a hundred people work under that area, but I don’t know how many were working this morning,” said Sokny, 29.

“I was so shocked. I am crying. I saw blood in the debris,” she said. – Rappler.com