Police in Preah Sihanouk province arrested two Chinese nationals in Mittapheap district on Wednesday night after they allegedly stabbed and robbed two fellow countrymen at a casino.

Deputy provincial police chief Kol Phally said the suspects were employees of the town’s Leu Phnom casino. Phally did not name the assailants, but a police officer who asked not to be identified named them as Deng Houseng, 22, and Laing Mochhang, 22. He said they stabbed the victims in the arm and back.

“The suspects were employees at the casino, but they also gambled and lost all of their money in gambling, so they decided to do that,” he said.

Kan Leng, chief of Commune III, where the casino is located, said the victims lost about $3,000 in the robbery, but that the police recovered the cash, other valuables and also the knife allegedly used in the assault.

Sihanoukville police chief Phol Phorsda said that the suspects and victims had been friends prior to the attack.