Police are on the hunt for the driver of a truck that collided with a minivan and killed four people and injured 17 others in Kompong Speu province’s Samraong Tong district on Monday, police said.
Vin Lenghuong, the district military police commander, said the crash happened in Voasar commune at about 5:50 a.m. when a dump truck filled with rocks was traveling east on National Road 4.
The truck first crashed into a 1.5-ton Hyundai truck driving in the opposite direction, said Mr. Lenghuong, then struck a SsangYong Motor minivan behind it carrying more than 20 passengers headed for Sihanoukville.
All three vehicles have been taken to the district police station, he added.
Sun Sovanthy, provincial traffic police chief, said three people died at the scene, while a fourth person died on the way to the provincial referral hospital.
The driver of the Hyundai was seriously injured when his truck overturned, Mr. Sovanthy said.
Seventeen victims, who were almost all seriously injured, were sent to Phnom Penh’s Calmette Hospital, the provincial referral hospital and private clinics, he said.
The driver of the dump truck escaped on foot, he added.
“He fled quickly from the scene after the incident, and now we are searching to bring him in” for questioning, Mr. Sovanthy said.
Police have identified the company that hired the driver, he said, but declined to identify it.
Investigations were still ongoing and no conclusions about the crash had yet been made, the police chief said.
According to the National Police website, 47 people died and 130 were injured in traffic accidents from May 1 through Friday.
On Friday alone, six people died and 14 were injured, the website says.
The tally of road fatalities for the long weekend, which included a public holiday for King Sihamoni’s birthday, are due to be released today.