STALLED CAR CAUSES TRAFFIC DEATH: COPS

A 46-year-old motorist is dead after his motorbike crashed into a stalled car on Phnom Penh’s Cambodian-Japanese Friendship Bridge Monday, police said. Investigators said a large car appeared to break down in the middle of the bridge, causing a chain reaction of crashes, one of which cost the motorist’s life. The man apparently sped onto the bridge and crashed into the car. Then a tuk-tuk wheeled up and joined the pile-up. Three people on board were injured, but no one died. The tuk-tuk driver said he thought the large car was moving. Police said the car’s driver should have put up some kind of sign to indicate the car was broken because the situation was so dangerous.

DEUM AMPIL

IMPATIENCE, TYRE TROUBLE HURTS MAN

A Battambang province man was seriously injured after he tried to pump up a flat tyre on his motorbike by himself, causing it to explode, police said. The incident happened Monday when the man wheeled into a garage to fix his tyre. The garage owner said he was just a little bit busy. Frustrated, the man took the pump by himself. Then the wheel exploded. The neighbours sent him to hospital, where a doctor said the man almost died from his injuries. The garage owner said the man had no “technical skills” to pump his own tyre, but that he was too stubborn to wait.

RASMEY KAMPUCHEA

SOLDIER OR BANDIT? COURT WILL DECIDE

A soldier accused of terrorising local villagers through repeated robberies could face court action, Battambang police said Monday. Residents said that the soldier was a serial thief and promised to testify against him in court. Police noted that the soldier is “so strange” because he appears to have a great deal of money – enough to build an expansive home for himself and his 10 children. Yet, police said they could not decide if the man really is a robber or not. So the provincial court will weigh the evidence.

KAMPUCHEA THMEY

MAN, 42, ACCUSED OF RAPING 12-YEAR-OLD

A 42-year-old man was arrested Monday after he allegedly raped a 12-year-old girl, police in Battambang province said. The victim’s mother reported that she noticed her daughter was acting strangely, often bursting into tears for no apparent reason. The girl at first refused to tell her why she was sad, afraid her mother would be angry. But the girl told a neighbour, who reported back to the mother, who filed a complaint with police. The girl decided she would be brave enough to testify in court after realising she had her mother’s support.

DEUM AMPIL