Police in Sihanoukville have identified the taxi driver who hit and seriously injured a Danish hotelier with his car on Sunday before fleeing the scene on foot as the woman lay bleeding on his windshield, officials said on Monday.
The victim, 50-year-old Lone Aagren, remains in critical condition at Calmette Hospital in Phnom Penh, while the taxi driver, 28-year-old Khiev Hoeuy, is at large, according to police.
The head-on collision between the car and motorbike occurred at about 1 a.m. on Sunday when the taxi driver took a tight turn at high speed while transporting an Israeli passenger to O’Tres Beach, said Prom Pov, chief of the Preah Sihanouk provincial traffic police bureau.
Ms. Aagren had been driving in the opposite direction on her Honda Fino and was launched from the motorbike and into Mr. Hoeuy’s car, suffering major head trauma, he said.
“When the vehicles crashed into each other, [she] flew over the motorbike and smashed against the car’s windshield. At the scene, we found her hair in it,” said deputy bureau chief Kep Sopheak, noting that she had not been wearing a helmet.
The Israeli passenger sustained only minor injuries and stayed in the vehicle after Mr. Hoeuy ran away, he said.
Mr. Sopheak said there were no witnesses to the crash, but that a group of moto-taxi drivers who arrived afterward called police.
“When we arrived at the scene, the victim was covered in blood and unconscious,” he said, adding that Ms. Aagren was sent to Phnom Penh for treatment when her wounds were deemed too serious to treat locally.
Ms. Aagren’s LinkedIn profile identifies her as the owner and general manager of the Beach Club Resort near O’Chheuteal Beach, but an employee there said she now worked at the Naia Resort on O’Tres Beach.
“She’s been working in Sihanoukville for about 10 years,” said the man, who declined to identify himself. “She is now in the emergency room and her relatives are arranging to send her for treatment in Thailand.”
