Four Chinese citizens and a Cambodian are in hospital after their car crashed through a barrier surrounding Phnom Penh’s Independence Monument about 3:30am yesterday.

The car was so damaged that police had to remove the car door to rescue the victims.  

The Chinese nationals were identified as Ying Chiang, 21, Phang Cheng Pin, 28, Erng Tong Chhing, 22, and an unidentified woman. The driver was 21-year-old Cambodian Heng Yu Hout, a first-year student at Pannasastra University in Phnom Penh.

The unidentified Chinese woman is the only victim in a serious condition and she remained unconscious last night at Calmette Hospital, according to Pen Kon, deputy director of the traffic office.

Police have yet to determine the cause of the accident. However, according to the municipal director of land route traffic, Heng Chantheary, police believe the crash may have resulted from speeding, after tyre marks were found 20-30 metres from the monument. It is not known whether the driver was intoxicated.

Pek Kon said traffic police would file a vandalism complaint for damage to the Independence Monument. Sections of the monument and flower vases were either cracked or broken in the crash. The car is being held as evidence.