The Kompong Cham Provincial Court on Wednesday charged an 18-year-old man with careless driving over a car crash on Saturday that left Prince Norodom Ranariddh slightly injured and his wife with a severe head wound, an official said Wednesday.
Provincial police chief Ben Rath said the court laid the charges against Chhoeung Sry, who was in the passenger seat of the truck that slammed into the prince’s car.
The truck’s driver fled the scene of the accident and remains at large. “The court charged him with careless driving under articles 72, 81 and 83 of the traffic law,” Mr. Rath said.
“He confessed that he was just assisting the driver,” he added. “We are looking for the driver.”
On Sunday, a spokesman for Prince Ranariddh’s royalist Funcinpec party called the crash a deliberate act of “terrorism.”
Mr. Rath said the crash was being treated as an accident. Provincial court prosecutor Huot Vuthy on Wednesday declined to comment on the charges against Mr. Sry.
“This is the business of the court,” he said.
