Two men in their twenties were killed on National Road 4 in Preah Sihanouk province Monday night when a Sokimex tanker truck smashed into their motorbike, dragging the riders underneath its wheels before the bike’s gas tank exploded and set them on fire, police said.
The accident happened in Prey Nop district at about 10 p.m. when the truck, en route to Phnom Penh from Sihanoukville and emptied of gasoline, collided with the bike head on while speeding down the center of the road, according to Lot Saroeun, director of the provincial traffic police department.
Mr. Saroeun added that the Sokimex driver initially ignored the explosion of the motorbike’s fuel tank beneath him and continued driving before the flames led him to abandon the vehicle 200 meters away from where the victims—Im Vutha, 22, and Sat Samith, 23—burned to death on the roadside.
“The impact of the truck hitting them seriously injured the victims but they died afterward from the fire,” he said. “We are investigating to gather evidence to hold the Sokimex company responsible.”
In a separate accident Tuesday morning, 63-year-old Touch Mat and his wife, 38-year-old Lors Arp Ars, were killed when a truck attempting to overtake a car hit their motorbike on National Road 3 in Kampot province, according to provincial traffic police chief Nop Sareth.
“The truck was overtaking another car at about 8 a.m. and crashed into their motorbike and killed [the couple] instantly,” he said, adding that police arrested the driver of the truck and would send him to court tomorrow.
A second crash at the scene injured four people as they were helping carry the bodies of the couple into the ambulance, Mr. Sareth added.
“The victims’ daughter and the ambulance arrived at the scene… and when they were transporting the bodies, a private tourist bus hit into the back of the ambulance and the daughter’s car then into the four of them on the road, seriously injuring them,” he said.
