A fire at a Siem Reap nightclub popular with young Cambodians killed five people early this morning, including a foreigner, city governor So Platong confirmed.

The Hip Hop Club caught fire at about 2:40am, and while 10 firetrucks battled the blaze for an hour and half, they were unable to save the lives of three Cambodian women, one Cambodian man and a foreign man whose nationality has not yet been identified.

Three other people were injured – two women and one man – and sent to the provincial hospital.

While the cause of the fire remains unknown, the club’s construction is said to have increased the likelihood of fatalities.

“The exit was way too small for people to escape when the fire happened,” Platong said.

According to witness Sun Thouch, who watched the scene unfold from the side of the road, fire trucks arrived about 15 minutes after the blaze began.

“I saw lot of smoke coming out, people were shouting, scared and crying,” he said.

“Inside the club, everything was destroyed, but the building is still standing. The club had bad luck because it was in front of a pagoda, and always caused noise when people [in the pagoda] were trying to sleep.”