Fire rips through village in capital

[geovalin]

Khouth Sophak Chakrya and Brent Crane

The Chinese New Year kicked off in tragic fashion for scores of families in the Tuol Roka village of southern Phnom Penh, where a massive blaze destroyed 97 homes on Saturday night. “We weren’t able to save anything, just the clothes we are wearing. Everything else was destroyed,” said resident Ley Yang, 27, the morning after the blaze.

Yang stood under a tarp atop the ruins of his charred home, where he lived with 18 family members. Like most residents of the Meanchey district community, Yang is ethnically Vietnamese. Around them lay the utter destruction from an inferno that residents said began after midnight and spread quickly thanks to strong winds. It took nearly two hours for fire-fighters, who residents said arrived half an hour after the fire started, to extinguish the flames.

read more: http://www.phnompenhpost.com/national/fire-rips-through-village-capital