VICTIMS of the Cambodia building collapse were buried alive as they slept, a survivor told AFP today, as the death toll at the Chinese-owned site rose to 18 and increasingly desperate rescuers picked through the compacted rubble for any further signs of life.

There are fears many more workers may be buried because rescuers have scoured barely half of the debris of twisted metal, glass and large concrete slabs, after the seven-storey building collapsed yesterday in the beach resort of Sihanoukville.