The death toll in the devastating fire at a casino hotel in Cambodia has risen to at least 24. The emergency services discovered more bodies in hotel rooms on Friday, reported the US broadcaster CNN. Dozens more people are still missing, a spokesman for Banteay Meanchey province said.

The authorities are currently trying to clarify the nationalities of the victims. Many apparently came from neighboring Thailand. The border is just a few hundred yards from the hotel in the town of Poipet.

The fire was probably caused by a short circuit, the newspaper "Khmer Times" reported. The 17-story Grand Diamond City Hotel and Casino was decorated with numerous lights for the Christmas and New Year celebrations. "The complex electrical wiring systems were probably overloaded as a result," said a spokesman for the authorities.

According to the emergency services, more than 100 other guests and employees of the hotel were injured, some seriously. Most of those killed died from smoke inhalation or from injuries sustained when they jumped out of the burning building, Poipet Governor Keat Hul said.

Major operation in Poipet

It took hundreds of emergency services several hours to bring the inferno under control. The fire brigade and police tried to free the trapped people with cranes and helicopters. On Thursday evening, they stopped the rescue work because of fears that the whole building could collapse.

The hotel on the border was particularly popular with Thais, as gambling is banned in their country. Poipet has around 100,000 inhabitants and is located 350 kilometers from Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh.