Four people were killed and 18 others injured in Kampong Speu yesterday when a dump truck travelling in the wrong lane collided with a chicken truck and a passenger van on National Road 4.

According to Say Seth, traffic police chief in Samrong Tong district, the dump truck appeared to have come out of its lane, sideswiping the chicken truck, which was travelling in the opposite direction.

“Our primary deduction is that the dump truck carrying rocks hit the truck carrying chickens, and then [the driver] could not control the wheel and hit the 12-seater van,” which had been travelling behind the chicken truck, he said.

The driver of the dump truck fled the scene, he added.

The driver of the van and three passengers died at the scene, while the driver of the truck transporting chickens sustained injuries.

“I don’t have the names of the people who died. I interviewed the injured but they just kept crying,” Seth said.

“I think the cause is overloading of the truck, and perhaps the ability to control the situation was poor. He did not know whether he should brake and he just kept going, based on what we discussed with the moto driver who rode behind the [van].”

According to Provincial Referral Hospital Director Tem Thany, the 18 injured victims were taken to Phnom Penh for treatment.