Police are searching for a businessman who was allegedly involved in killing three people in two separate hit-and-runs in Koh Kong province on Sunday night, a police official said Monday.
Chea Sarin, Mondol Seima district police chief, said his officers were searching for the driver of a Toyota Fortuner SUV who careered into a family of three riding a motorcycle, killing a married couple and seriously injuring their daughter. He then sped off and killed a third person who was driving a motorbike about 1 km away before abandoning his vehicle.
“At about 10 p.m. the car hit the first three and the parents, who were riding on the back, died immediately as they were thrown over 10 meters away, but the daughter is seriously injured and is staying for treatment in Dang Tong provincial hospital,” Mr. Sarin said, naming the dead couple as Van Kim, 55, and Pech Kanha, 41, and their daughter as 21-year-old Sith Som An.
“Ten minutes after he killed the first two victims, the suspect crashed into and killed a driver about 1 km away…. We concluded he was driving fast in order to escape the scene,” he said, naming the third victim as 21-year-old Duong Pisey.
The SUV involved in the crash is owned by a Cambodian businessman from Bak Khlang commune, Mr. Sarin said, but he refused to name him because police are still attempting to ascertain whether he was driving the vehicle. Police officers visited the suspect’s house Monday morning and his wife claimed he had not returned home the night before.
“We have no clues yet to conclude whether the suspect was drunk, but we went to the scene of the crash and the car had swerved,” Mr. Sarin said.
Nhem Dara, provincial deputy police chief in charge of immigration, also refused to identify the suspect, saying only that he owned a market in the province and regularly traveled to Thailand for business.
“The driver is an owner of a market in front of the special economic zone in Koh Kong, and he normally uses a Thai number plate on his car to transport goods and return back,” Mr. Sarin said.
