A six-year-old boy and his four-year-old sister were rescued from a fire in Phnom Penh’s Russey Keo commune, while a fireman was injured in another fire in Por Sen Chey district’s Chaom Chao I commune on Saturday, Phnom Penh Municipal Fire Department chief Prum Yorn said on Sunday.

Sok Chan Sambath and his sister Sok Chan Arya were rescued by firemen and Russey Keo commune police from a room in a flat where a fire broke out at 2am on Saturday, Yorn said.

“The boy and the girl slept in a room separate from their parents. When their home caught fire, the parents knocked on their door to wake them up, but they were too shocked to open it, until officials arrived, spraying the room with water.

“Commune police broke into the room, rescuing them, unharmed,” he said.

After the fire was brought under control, a second fire broke out in the capital at 5:30am on the same morning – this time in Chaom Chao I commune.

At the scene, fireman Kay Tota’s right arm was injured when a handrail fell on him.

Yorn said the two fires damaged 10 homes – one of which had eight rental rooms and two Vietnamese community schools. There were no fatalities.

“According to our inquiries and inspections at the scene, we concluded that the fires at both sites were caused by electrical malfunctions,” he said, adding that more than 100 cubic metres of water had been used to put out the fires.

Local authorities visited the families of the victims and provided them with foodstuff and other necessities.