Vietnamese expats stabilise lives after fire in Cambodia

Phnom Penh (VNA) – The support from Vietnamese and Cambodian authorities, and international organisations have helped Vietnamese expatriates in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, overcome difficulties after a fire burnt their houses to the ground last month.

Attending a ceremony jointly held by the Vietnamese Embassy in Cambodia and Khmer-Vietnamese Association on August 4 to review relief activities for fire victims, Vietnamese Ambassador to Cambodia Vu Quang Minh expressed his gratitude towards Cambodian leaders and authorities for giving timely assistance to the Vietnamese expatriates.

This was a successful relief campaign, he said, adding that it set a record in terms of speed, donated money and items, and the number of sponsors.

Also, he took the occasion to thank Vietnam’s resident reporters in Cambodia for spreading updated news about the incident.

At the event, the organising board handed over assistance from the Vietnam Fatherland Front Central Committee to the victims, with 20 million VND (870 USD) offered to each family.

A fire broke out at dawn of July 10 and quickly ripped through 57 Vietnamese households in Ruseykeo district, Phnom Penh.

The cause of the fire was identified as an electrical short-circuit in a house owned by Sin Yin, a 63 year-old Vietnamese Cambodian. The fire spread to other houses in the neighbourhood due to their combustible building materials, requiring 32 firefighting vehicles to extinguish the blaze.

New look has been given to the devastated area just after four weeks as new houses have been built on the former ground with more stable building materials. However, the impoverished Vietnamese there still have to encounter other tough challenge when the water level of Mekong River is rising as the result of the collapse of the Sepien-Senamnoi hydropower dam in Laos.-VNA