A Thai man died in Pailin province on Wednesday after jumping out of a moving truck that was taking him to the provincial police headquarters for questioning along with 15 other Thai nationals and a Malaysian national, a police official said.
Deputy provincial police chief Sanh Nam said that immigration police picked up the 17 foreigners in Sala Krao district’s Stung Kach commune, where they had been residing illegally.
But on the way to the police headquarters, he said, Martinpom Manop, 59, leapt from the bed of the truck.
“The man was sent to the Pailin provincial referral hospital, where he died due to the severity of his injuries,” Mr. Nam said.
“I don’t know why he jumped,” he said, adding that Martinpom Manop might have been afraid of being arrested. Mr. Nam said Thai authorities were on their way to Cambodia to retrieve the body Wednesday evening.
“This is not our fault, because he jumped on his own,” he said. The 16 Thais and Malaysian national were rounded up as part of a census of foreigners in Pailin that began on August 5, he added.
