Two men were killed when their timber-loaded mini-tractor crashed in Siem Reap’s Prasat Bakong district yesterday.

Police said the vehicle, loaded with planks, veered off the road and overturned on top of Rou Reun, 37, and Sou Sun, 19.

“We do not know the reason for the accident,” said district traffic police deputy Sok Bunrong. The source of the timber was also unclear.

Separately, the Natural Resource and Wildlife Preservation Organization found 70 felled trees while patrolling Phnom Oral Wildlife Sanctuary in Kampong Speu early yesterday morning.

Seven loggers were busted with wood near the sanctuary on Tuesday, but more than 20 of their accomplices escaped.

“The timber was unloaded from the tractors about 800 metres away from the environment station,” said NRWPO director Chea Hean.

“The environmental rangers . . . tipped them off to drop the timber and escape.”

Provincial Environment Department deputy director Nov Nak denied his officials tipped off any loggers directly.

“When we cracked down, the information was leaked and shared among the people,” he said.