At least four houses in Kratie’s Chit Borei district burned to the ground on Saturday night, local authorities said yesterday morning.

District police chief of staff Thoeng Sophea said that the four wooden houses engulfed in the blaze were located in Sambok village. He added that none of the villagers knew the cause of the fire but claimed it had begun in the home of Tiv Borei, 48, a teacher at Sambok Secondary School, who was away from home at the time.

“According to our expert’s conclusion, the blaze was caused by electrical malfunction. However, no one was hurt or died,” Sophea said.

Separately, in Phnom Penh’s Por Sen Chey district, a house used to store sewing machines was half-destroyed because of electrical malfunction on Saturday, Theng Kosal, Chaom Chao commune police chief, said yesterday.

Kosal appealed to the people to extinguish incense sticks and candles, and turn off stoves and electrical devices before going to work or taking trips out of town in order to avoid fires.