More than 60 garment workers were injured yesterday when the truck in which they were travelling overturned in Svay Rieng province’s Bavet district.

The workers, employed at several different factories in Bavet’s Manhattan Special Economic Zone, were being driven to work in an overcrowded, open truck when it flipped over, throwing its occupants onto the street. Ten suffered serious injuries, including head trauma, while 51 others received minor wounds.

Bavet deputy police chief Chea Sina said the incident, which took place at 6:30am, was due to careless driving. The truck flipped over because the driver, who fled on foot after the accident, was speeding, he said, adding that no other vehicles were involved.

“After the accident, the driver escaped from the scene. Now we are on the lookout and want to arrest him,” Sina said.

Sam Chantha, one of the injured workers, said the journey had started normally, but she had noticed the vehicle seemed to be picking up speed. The next thing she remembered was being thrown out of the truck.

“I am a little injured, but at the scene, I was more panicked about the other workers,” she said.

Traffic accidents are common for Cambodia’s more than 700,000 garment and footwear workers. Earlier this year, five workers died and another 138 were injured in two separate accidents in Kampong Speu province.