A pregnant woman and her four children died when her house caught fire in Khun Rang commune in Kampong Chhnang province’s Boribor district on the night of May 9.

Khun Rang commune police chief Kim Sophat told The Post on May 10 that the 38-year-old woman was in her three-month pregnancy. She was a second-hand clothes seller and her four children were aged 3 to 9.

“The fire was either caused by electrical malfunction or gas explosion while she was cooking. The fire might have then spread to the pile of second-hand clothes she had kept inside the house.

“Villagers heard an explosion before the house went up in flame,” he said, adding police were working to determine the actual cause of the fire.

Sophat said only the woman’s husband managed to escape. He was seen running out of the house and fell unconscious when learning that his wife and children had died in the blaze.

Sophat said the house, measuring 7m by 12m and built from metal and zinc roofs, was destroyed along with a tuk-tuk and three tonnes of second-hand clothes.

He said firefighters used three fire engines to put out the flames, adding the husband was devastated by the tragedy.