Prime Minister Hun Sen said yesterday he would rebuild a Stung Treng market that burned down on Friday as investigations continue into the cause of the fire, with market vendors claiming arson.

Speaking at the Peace Palace yesterday, Hun Sen said that he will be “present” for vendors affected by Friday’s fire, offering to rebuild the market on the condition that vendors pay the relevant taxes.

“As with fires in Preah Sihanouk, Kratie, Kampong Thom and now Stung Treng – Hun Sen will be present,” he said. “I will rebuild the market and the vendors only need to pay taxes.”

He said the construction department of the armed forces will be assisting in the reconstruction of the market and that vendors should be able to return to their businesses shortly.

Men Kong, spokesman for Stung Treng Provincial Hall, said that while investigators had completed a preliminary investigation, vendors were claiming a case of arson instead of initial reports of an electrical fire, though none of them had any evidence to back the claim.

In another fire on Friday, an explosion at a salt purification kiln in Phnom Penh’s Dangkor district injured two people and damaged cars and nearby houses, with the kiln owner taking responsibility for the damage, said Cheng Monyra, Dangkor district’s deputy governor.

Separately, a gas explosion in Kandal’s Ang Snuol commune on Saturday injured four individuals and damaged two adjacent houses after a tube used for filling smaller containers with gas was not disconnected correctly, according to Heng Chenda, Ang Snuol’s acting deputy police chief.