Police are investigating a fire that broke out at the Elite Disco Club in Siem Reap town on the night of December 1 that killed three people and seriously injured another, according to provincial police chief Teng Channath.

"Preliminary investigations suggest the fire was caused by an explosion in the basement and now police officers are investigating further to find the cause of the incident," he said.

Channath told The Post that the casualties from the fire were all male but he could not confirm their identities at this time beyond noting that two of the men killed were security guards and the third was apparently a singer. The seriously injured victim is now being treated at the hospital.

He said it took 10 fire engines from units throughout the province over three hours to put out the fire which started around 7:30 pm and raged until nearly 11pm.

He said the fire-fighting crews were challenged by the job because the fire was underground in the basement with only a small entrance there, making it impossible to bring the fire engines in closer.

"Extinguishing a fire in the basement of a large building with a single entrance is not easy. But our team did their best to extinguish the blaze without letting the fire spread to other areas and they succeeded," he said.

The bodies of the three victims were sent to their hometown pagodas upon their relatives’ request on December 2, according to a representative of the owner of the Elite Club who asked not to be named.