A disabled man died after his older sister accidentally drove a pickup truck off a ferry and into the Tonle Basac river in Kandal province on Monday, an official said.
Sourn Sela, 27, was driving her family to Phnom Penh when the accident occurred at about 2 p.m. in Sa’ang district’s Talun commune, deputy district police chief Say Saravon said on Tuesday.
Four other relatives had left the Toyota Tacoma to walk to the boat while Ms. Sela paid the fare and drove onto the ferry, he said.
After ferry employees placed pieces of wood in front of her tires to secure the truck, “she accidentally hit the accelerator, and then her car ran off the ferry, causing it to sink,” Mr. Saravon said.
Ms. Sela swam to safety and a ferry employee jumped into the river to retrieve her 20-year-old brother, Sourn Thorn Virak, from the truck’s extended cab, he added.
The brother, who could not walk, died about 30 minutes later at a village doctor’s home, he said.
“If the victim’s health was not so bad, he might have survived, but he was too weak before the car sank.”
