<p>More than 20 Chinese nationals are missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Cambodia, an official said Friday.</p>.<p>The boat carrying 41 Chinese people got into difficulties off Sihanoukville on Thursday, provincial spokesman Kheang Phearom told AFP, and only 18 of those on board had been rescued.</p>.<p>The once-quiet fishing village of Sihanoukville has been transformed by a Chinese investment boom in recent years, with dozens of casinos opening.</p>.<p>But there have been growing reports of Chinese workers being trafficked or smuggled to work in the city illegally.</p>.<p>Kheang Phearom said police were questioning those they had rescued while the search for the others continued.</p>.<p>"We are searching for the 23 who went missing," he said.</p>.<p>Provincial police chief Chuon Narin told pro-government media outlet Fresh News that a representative of the group told police they left China from a port in Guangdong province by speedboat on September 11.</p>.<p>Nearly a week later they were transferred to a wooden boat with two Cambodian crew members in international waters, the police chief said, and that vessel began to sink after breaking down on Thursday.</p>.<p>He said a fishing boat picked up the two Cambodians and left, abandoning them and their boat in the sea.</p>.<p>According to Kheang Phearom, the two Cambodians had also been detained for questioning.</p>
<p>More than 20 Chinese nationals are missing after a boat capsized off the coast of Cambodia, an official said Friday.</p>.<p>The boat carrying 41 Chinese people got into difficulties off Sihanoukville on Thursday, provincial spokesman Kheang Phearom told AFP, and only 18 of those on board had been rescued.</p>.<p>The once-quiet fishing village of Sihanoukville has been transformed by a Chinese investment boom in recent years, with dozens of casinos opening.</p>.<p>But there have been growing reports of Chinese workers being trafficked or smuggled to work in the city illegally.</p>.<p>Kheang Phearom said police were questioning those they had rescued while the search for the others continued.</p>.<p>"We are searching for the 23 who went missing," he said.</p>.<p>Provincial police chief Chuon Narin told pro-government media outlet Fresh News that a representative of the group told police they left China from a port in Guangdong province by speedboat on September 11.</p>.<p>Nearly a week later they were transferred to a wooden boat with two Cambodian crew members in international waters, the police chief said, and that vessel began to sink after breaking down on Thursday.</p>.<p>He said a fishing boat picked up the two Cambodians and left, abandoning them and their boat in the sea.</p>.<p>According to Kheang Phearom, the two Cambodians had also been detained for questioning.</p>