Phnom Penh, Nov 18 (IANS): Five people, including an Australian tourist, were killed in a fire early Tuesday at a nightclub in the northern resort city of Chhoeun Chheng, a local fire-fighting official said

"Three women and two men, including a 32-year-old Australian man, were killed in the blaze, and two other women were seriously injured," deputy chief of the Siem Reap provincial fire-fighting police office told Xinhua.

He said the fire happened at 3 a.m. and was completely extinguished two hours later after the fire fighters used six tenders to put out the flame.

"Electric fault was blamed for the blaze," he said.

The Angkor Wat temple, a world heritage site and the country's largest tourist destination, is located in Siem Reap province some 315 km northwest of Phnom Penh.

About 1.74 million foreign tourists visited the temple during the first nine months of this year, up 11 percent over the same period last year, according to the tourism ministry.