A blaze which broke out in the capital’s Tuol Kork district on Wednesday night is thought to have destroyed property and goods worth at least US$680,000.

At least three warehouses containing spare car parts and two homes belonging to villagers in Phsar Depot I commune were damaged by the fire, which took hold for five hours, police said.

Chheng Sophan, acting district police chief, said yesterday that the fire was caused by an electrical fault in a warehouse belonging to 29-year-old Ting Sophorn at around 7:30pm and was put out at 12:30am.

“The fire was caused by an electrical wire and caused property losses of $680,000 in total for five families,” he said. He added that no one had died in the incident.

It took 15 fire trucks to put out the fire, said Neth Vantha, Director of Phnom Penh Municipal Police Fire Brigade

Ting Sophorn’s brother-in-law Sear Seng Heab, 40, said yesterday that the family would compensate those who lost their homes.

“My garage and another two garages, which belong to my brother and sister-in-law were burned down, causing us to lose more than $650,000,” he said.

“We thank all the people and the authorities that made the effort to help us to put out the fire.”

Eir Srong, 45, saw half of his home destroyed by the blaze. He said yesterday that he would ask for compensation from Ting Sophorn.

“I will demand some money from her to rebuild my home, because the fire started at her garage,” he said.

While Tring Nary, 52, who saw a wall of her flat damaged in the fire, said that she had already been promised a pay out.

“My family and I pity [Ting Sophorn] and her family a lot because of the accident, but we need her family to pay us because we have no money to rebuild our home,” said Tring Nary.