A 45-year-old Chinese national died on Wednesday after he fell from an 11-storey building under construction. His body was cut in two pieces in the gory incident at Village IV, Commune IV, in Sihanoukville.

On Thursday, Commune IV police chief Sam Prak identified the victim as Wang Meiguang from China’s Fujian province.

He said Wang had carried a small container of paint as he climbed up to the 11th floor of the building where Cambodian and Chinese nationals were working.

“When the victim reached the 11th floor, he walked on a board to a lift when he slipped and fell,” Prak said. He said as Wang fell, he hit many iron and wooden poles that threw him onto the zinc fence built around the construction site.

“His body was cut into two parts, with one half falling inside the fence and the other outside of it,” he said.

Sihanoukville town deputy police chief Hem Soy said town and provincial police rushed to the scene after being informed of the incident.

Police were informed that Wang had fallen off the building due to his carelessness and ascertained that it was not a murder case. Upon examination, his body was sent to the provincial hospital pending the hand-over to his family.

“Police experts thoroughly investigated the case and we verified the witnesses’ reports which is how we concluded that Wang’s death was a mishap and not a case of murder,” Soy said.

Prak added that police had also questioned a Cambodian who said most of the workers were unaware of Wang falling until a Chinese national shouted for help. They then went to the ground level and saw his body in two parts.