A sleep-deprived driver crashed a bus on Saturday morning, leaving 14 passengers injured.

When driver Kong Thol, 42, of Kampong Cham’s Chheung Prey district allegedly dozed off at about 9am, the Capitol Tours bus veered off the road and into a rice paddy along National Road 6 in Kampong Thom province’s Stoung district, said Hang Thol, Kampong Thom’s provincial military police general.

“After the accident, the driver escaped and the injured people were sent to the hospital at Stoung District Referral Hospital,” Thol said yesterday.

The bus was heading from Siem Reap to Phnom Penh.

Of the 30 onboard, six suffered severe injuries, and another eight received minor injuries, Thol said.

In June, Capitol was one of four bus companies issued government warnings due to their high rates of fatalities, with officials saying the companies could face closure if deaths on the bus lines continued.