Buth Reaksmey Kongkea

A 50-year-old man was charged yesterday by Phnom Penh Municipal Court for allegedly trafficking 15 Cambodians to Thailand and will await his hearing in Prey Sar prison, anti-trafficking officials said.

Seng Hay, 50, from Takeo’s Borei Cholsar district, is charged with luring the labourers across the border with promises of work, said Lieutenant Colonel Keo Thea, chief of the municipal anti-human trafficking and juvenile protection unit.

“He was arrested … while he was preparing the 15 people from Kampong Cham province to leave Phnom Penh in taxis and illegally cross checkpoints in Poipet,” Thea said, adding that if found guilty, Hay could face 15 years in prison.

The 15 each paid the accused $150 to arrange transport across the border, said Thea’s deputy, Major Khat Phalla.

http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/man-accused-luring-workers-thailand

Sen David

Two Cambodian nationals are among those reported dead following the collapse of a beam at a construction site yesterday on the outskirts of Bangkok.

The death toll stood at 11 as of 4pm yesterday, while another 17 were reported injured.

A concrete beam fell down at the building site in Bang Phli district, part of the expansion of the Ramathibodi Hospital’s Chakri Naruebodindra medical centre, at about noon.

Ruamkatanyu Foundation staff said the fallen beam linked Buildings 1 and 2 on the fourth floor of the expansion. The beam, 20 by 15 metres and 30cm thick, fell to the second floor, landing on workers who were eating their lunch.

Cambodian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Koy Koung yesterday said the government had not yet confirmed the deaths of the two Cambodian workers.

“Our embassy in Thailand is seeking information from Thai authorities to determine whether they are Cambodian nationals or not. We do not yet clearly know their identities,” he said.

REPORTING BY BANGKOK POST AND SEN DAVID