Six Cambodians were killed and five others were seriously injured in a two-car traffic accident in the eastern Thai province of Sa Kaeo on Friday morning.

Spokesman for Banteay Meanchey provincial hall Ouk Keo Ratanak said yesterday that all six bodies had been sent back to Cambodia, while the five injured Cambodians remained in a Thai hospital. Three Thai nationals also died in the accident. Thai police official Pol Col Phairat Phukcharoeun told the Bangkok Post that the 37-year-old driver of the van fled the scene after the wreck.

“The driver probably fell asleep because there were no skid marks on the road,” he said, adding the van had run into the back of a truck.

Police said the Cambodians involved in the wreck had entered the country legally and hired the van for the day to travel to a market.