At least 17 people were killed and 24 others sustained injuries after a seven-storey under-constructed building collapsed in southwestern Cambodia's Preah Sihanouk province, authorities said on Sunday.
The incident took place in the wee hours of Saturday in the coastal town of Sihanoukville. About 40-50 construction workers were sleeping at the construction site when the building collapsed, reported Xinhua news agency.
Seng Loth, a spokesman for the Ministry of Land Management, Urban Planning, and Construction, told Xinhua news agency that the project was unlicensed and the provincial authorities had warned the developer twice about the project.
In a Facebook post late on Saturday, Cambodian Prime Minister Samdech Techo Hun Sen expressed his condolences to the bereaved families and those injured in the incident.
The rescue work is underway. Police have initiated an investigation into the matter.