More victims recovered from Cambodia casino hotel fire
Phnom Penh (AP): The confirmed death toll from a massive fire at a casino hotel complex in western Cambodia rose to 25 on Friday as the search resumed for victims, officials said.
The blaze at the Grand Diamond City casino and hotel in the town of Poipet on the Thai border started around midnight Wednesday and was extinguished more than 12 hours later on Thursday afternoon.
By Friday morning, 25 bodies had been recovered from the site, according to Sek Sokhom, head of Banteay Meanchey province's information department. He said six bodies were found Friday morning, some in their rooms and others on stairways.
More than 60 people were injured, he said, and the death toll was expected to rise once rescuers are able to access victims who are believed to be under debris or in locked rooms.
The Grand Diamond City casino complex has 500 employees, and it had 1,000 customers Wednesday, according to a report from Soth Kimkolmony, a spokesperson for Cambodia's National Committee for Disaster Management. It was unclear how many were present when the fire broke out, and how many managed to flee to safety.
An accurate toll of the casualties has been hard to obtain due to the chaotic rescue efforts and since many of those saved were rushed across the border for treatment in neighbouring Thailand, which has better medical facilities.
Thai and Cambodian rescue teams have been working side-by-side in searching the 17-story complex but paused their efforts overnight at the dangerously damaged site.
Many of those inside, both customers and staff, were from neighbouring Thailand, which sent firetrucks and emergency workers to help.
Thailand's Sa Kaeo Provincial Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office has counted 11 dead all Thai and 109 injured, including 57 in hospitals.
An initial investigation found that the fire may have been caused by New Year's holiday decorations that drew too much electricity, causing wires to overheat and burn, local authorities said.
Khmer Times, a Cambodian English-language news website, quoted Poipet city governor Keat Hul describing the chaos when the fire broke out.
"Hotel and casino workers used fire extinguishers to stop the fire but to no avail. People were panicking and rushing about everywhere but mainly for the nearest exit," he said. "I was told that there was a stampede out at the main entrance when black smoke was billowing through the building."
He was quoted saying he believed many of the deaths came from smoke inhalation and some people died when they leapt from high stories to escape the flames.
Poipet in western Cambodia is a site of busy cross-border trade and tourism opposite the city of Aranyaprathet in more affluent Thailand.
Casinos are illegal in Thailand. Many Thais visit neighbouring countries such as Cambodia a popular tourist destination with convenient international connections to gamble. Poipet has more than a dozen casinos.
The Grand Diamond City casino is just a short walk from the border checkpoint with Thailand and is popular with customers who make the four-hour drive from the Thai capital, Bangkok.
Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen made his first public comments on the tragedy in remarks to villagers Friday morning at a road repair ceremony in the southern province of Kampot.
He expressed his condolences and said the incident showed that all tall buildings in the country must have sufficient equipment to fight fires. He also gave thanks to all the people who worked in the rescue effort, including those from Thailand.
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Bank account in Ramgarh tracked for fraudulent fund transactions across 24 states, 4 arrested
Ramgarh (Jharkhand) (PTI): Jharkhand police on Thursday said it has unearthed a network of interstate cyber frauds and arrested four miscreants for fraudulent transactions through a bank account in Ramgarh district after complaints of 274 suspected transactions in 24 states.
The states where complaints for fraudulent transactions were registered included Maharashtra, Karnataka, West Bengal, Uttar Pradesh, Telangana, Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.
The action followed inputs received through 'Samanvaya portal', a centralised, web-based platform launched by the Union Home Ministry to curb cybercrime.
"We arrested four cyber miscreants after a current account with Kuju (Ramgarh) branch of the State Bank of India was found to have registered suspected financial transactions in 24 states with the help of the Pratibimba portal of the Home Ministry through the Samanvaya portal," Ramgarh Superintendent of Police Mukesh Kumar Lunayat said.
During the probe, police found that the account was opened under the MSME Udyam Registration scheme in the name of Shree Ganesh Enterprises, he said.
The account had been linked to as many as 274 complaints from different states related to cyber fraud and illegal fund transfers.
The registered proprietors of the enterprise were identified as Rahul Gupta (37), Ravi Kumar Verma (34), and Ajay Sharma (33), all residents of Ramgarh district, a statement from the Ramgarh police said.
During interrogation, Rahul Gupta and Ravi Kumar Verma revealed that they had opened multiple current accounts at the behest of Ritesh Agrawal alias Munna (40) and Sonu Kumar Jha (34).
They admitted receiving Rs 1.2 lakh in exchange for facilitating the opening of these accounts.
"The accused further confessed to sharing OTPs, activating mobile banking services, and handing over control of the accounts to the main operators through WhatsApp and Telegram groups. These accounts were then allegedly used to route fraudulent transactions.
Police said mobile data analysis of the accused led to the recovery of crucial digital evidence, including details of SIM cards, bank accounts, passbooks, ATM cards, QR code scanners, Aadhaar cards, and PAN cards shared through messaging platforms.
A total of four accused have been arrested so far and sent to judicial custody.
A case has been registered at the Cyber Crime Police Station under relevant sections of the Bharatiya Nyaya Sanhita (BNS) 2023 and Sections 66C and 66D of the Information Technology Act, 2000.
Further investigation is underway, the police said.
