A worker was seriously injured on Monday at a Phnom Penh construction site owned by the Overseas Cambodia Investment Corporation (OCIC), just four months after a falling pipe killed a passing motorist at another site owned by the politically connected developer, police said.

A post on the National Police’s website yesterday said 19-year-old construction worker Pet Pov was rushed to hospital after a piece of metal fell onto his head while he was at work on the Prampi Makara district development.

It added that information about the accident was being hidden by the company and local officials.

In November, a nearby construction project owned by OCIC made headlines when a metal support beam fell 12 storeys, killing 48-year-old Puth Vanny.

OCIC representative Toch Samnang confirmed yesterday that a worker had been injured, but claimed that it was not the result of falling metal.

According to Samnang, the worker slipped and fell about 4 metres to the ground, causing minor injuries to his head and arms.

“He is not seriously injured, and now I hear that he is out of the hospital,” he said.

Local officials could not be reached yesterday.

Net Sithun, chief of Prampi Makara district police, said he was not aware of the incident, while other police officials declined to comment.