One person has died and more than 20 others are missing after a boat carrying Chinese nationals capsized off the coast of Cambodia, a Cambodian official said on Friday.
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The ship, which had 41 Chinese on board, found itself in difficulty on Thursday at the level of Sihanoukville (southwest), Kheang Phearom, spokesman for the province of Preah Sihanouk, told AFP, adding that 19 people were rescued and the body of a woman was recovered.
The once tranquil fishing village of Sihanoukville has been transformed in recent years by a boom in Chinese investment, including the opening of dozens of casinos.
However, there is growing evidence that Chinese workers are being trafficked and smuggled to work illegally in the city.
Police were questioning the survivors while the search continued for the remaining passengers, the spokesman said.
Provincial police chief Chion Narin told pro-government outlet Fresh News that a representative of those on board told them they had left China from a port in Guangdong province on a speedboat on September 11.
Almost a week later, they were transferred to a wooden boat by two Cambodian crew members, the police chief said, before their boat began to sink after breaking down on Thursday.
The policeman added that a fishing boat picked up the two Cambodians and left, abandoning the other passengers.
According to the provincial spokesman, the two Cambodian nationals were arrested for questioning.
The Chinese Foreign Ministry said it was “in close contact” with the Cambodian authorities, asking them to “make every effort to carry out search and rescue operations” and “quickly find out the circumstances” of these disappearances. .
The Cambodian authorities are making efforts to repress human smuggling and trafficking networks. Reports have indeed revealed that people from other Southeast Asian countries are encouraged to emigrate to get jobs advertised as lucrative.
This is the case, according to recent testimonies, of Chinese who came to work in casinos or for online scam networks in Sihanoukville, and were prevented from leaving.
In early September, police and immigration authorities raided the city and arrested more than 140 foreigners working illegally, including 130 Chinese.
Officials said they found evidence of forcible confinement and torture, among other things.
In August, about 40 Vietnamese workers from a casino in Cambodia escaped and swam across a river to return to their country of origin.