A husband whose wife was killed by a military truck in a hit-and-run collision in Phnom Penh on March 25 has refused an offer of compensation from a military officer representing the driver.

Meach Vireak – whose 28-year-old wife Sok Vanna was crushed on Veng Sreng Boulevard by a truck with Royal Cambodian Armed Forces plates on its way to deliver firewood to a nearby garment factory said yesterday that he had been negotiating with a man in military uniform through the Phnom Penh traffic police.

Vireak said he had rejected an offer of $2,500 and asked for another $1,000 prior to Khmer New Year.

In response, the man, whose name Vireak could not recall, told the father of two that because he did not have enough money to hire a lawyer and fight the case in court, he should accept the figure.

But Vireak said he needed the extra cash to support his children, as his late wife had worked two jobs to help pay for their education. “Now there’s only me to support the family and it’s become difficult,” he said.

“My salaries go to my children’s school fees and we find it hard to look after them.”

Reached yesterday, Phnom Penh traffic police chief Chev Hak said he could not recall the case because there had been “many cases”.

Defence Ministry spokesman Chhum Socheat, who had previously said he would look into the incident, could not be reached yesterday.