Three local tourists were seriously injured and 12 others received minor injuries Monday morning when their bus veered off the road and crashed into a pond in Kampot province’s Teuk Chhou district.

Bus owner Hun Chhay, 40, was paid to drive 15 people from Takeo province to visit Bokor Mountain in Kampot, but they never reached the tourist destination.

“The steering wheel of the bus was stuck, the driver couldn’t move it and it veered onto the sidewalk before collapsing into a pond near the road causing injuries to all the passengers,” said Sang Sophy, Teuk Chhou district police chief.

The police arrived at the scene and sent all 15 injured passengers to hospital for medical attention. “No one died. We took the bus to keep at a provincial police station, a measure required by law. It is not a company bus, it was a privately owned bus,” Sophy said.