After a massive fire engulfed a hotel-casino in Banteay Meanchey province of Cambodia, one Nepali national has lost his life.
40-year-old Nirakar Pandey of Jhapa, who had gone to Cambodia on a vacation, died after he jumped off from the 12th floor of the Grand Diamond City Hotel and Casino in Poipet after the building caught fire.
Pandey jumped off the building in an apparent bid to save himself from the fire. However, before jumping off from the hotel room where he was staying in Cambodia, he had made a video call to his family to inform them of the situation.
A clip of the video call has gone viral on social media, where he addresses his family after he lost hope of survival.
Pandey addressed his son, in the heart-wrenching video saying, “No matter where I am, I will always love you, be a good person. Wherever you go, I will always remember you. Be successful in future.”
Cambodia Non-Resident Nepali Association (NRNA) President Lal Singh Khadka said he had reached the incident site after learning about the incident. “Preparations are underway to send Pandey’s body back to Nepal through co-ordination with the Nepal Embassy in Thailand,” said Khadka.
As many as 27 people have lost their lives, including Pandey, and 73 others were injured in the fire incident that happened early Thursday.
Local authorities have suspected that the reason for the tragedy could be due to an electrical short circuit, however, an investigation is ongoing to investigate the cause.
