The search for victims in the rubble of a collapsed building in southern Cambodia drew to a close Sunday with the final death toll at 36 -- the latest tragedy in a string of deadly construction accidents.

Hundreds of soldiers and rescuers frantically picked through the rubble of a collapsed building in southern Cambodia on Saturday looking for bodies as the death toll from the disaster rose to seven.
Hundreds of soldiers and rescuers frantically picked through the rubble of a collapsed building in southern Cambodia on Saturday looking for bodies as the death toll from the disaster rose to seven. AFPTV / Suy SE

Cambodia Prime Minister Hun Sen, said 23 people had been pulled alive from the rubble of the seven-storey hotel, which crumpled to the ground in seaside Kep on Friday afternoon.

On Sunday rescuers also managed to free a dog trapped in the debris.

A rescuer carries a puppy that was found underneath rubble of an under-construction building that collapsed in southern Cambodia
A rescuer carries a puppy that was found underneath rubble of an under-construction building that collapsed in southern Cambodia AFP / TANG CHHIN Sothy

"This is yet another tragedy," said Hun Sen, who promised families of victims would get $50,000 each in compensation, while those injured would receive $20,000, he said.

Rescue personnel carry a body from the wreckage of the collapsed building
Rescue personnel carry a body from the wreckage of the collapsed building AFP / TANG CHHIN Sothy

He told reporters the contractor responsible for the construction had died in the accident, while the building's owner had been detained.

The rescue effort lasted more 40 hours, mobilizing hundreds of soldiers and labourers using excavators, drills and power saws to clear concrete and cut through metal bars of the pancaked structure.

Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (R) speaks during a press conference at the site of the collapse
Cambodia's Prime Minister Hun Sen (R) speaks during a press conference at the site of the collapse AFP / TANG CHHIN Sothy

Cambodia is undergoing a construction boom, with hotels, high-rises and casinos springing up under little regulatory oversight.

The tough and often dangerous labour is undertaken by an estimated 200,000 construction workers, mostly unskilled, reliant on day wages and not protected by union rules, according to the International Labour Organisation.

Last June some 28 people died in the collapse of a building under construction in Sihanoukville, a beach town flush with Chinese investment that.

Worker advocacy groups point to low safety standards that raise the risk of accidents at construction sites -- which often serve as the temporary homes for the labourers and their families.

Worker Ei Kosal told AFP on Saturday that he, his wife and two other women were having a meal on site when the building collapsed.

"I did not expect to survive... it's like I have just been reborn," Kosal from hospital.