Twenty-nine garment workers were injured, six seriously, when a sand truck and a van collided in a 6am incident in Kampong Speu province’s Phnom Sruoch district on Saturday. The truck driver fled the scene and police have mounted a search for him.

Phnom Sruoch District Police Chief Say Bunthorn said the truck, carrying sand, was attempting to overtake a car when it collided with the van coming from the opposite direction. The van was ferrying 45 garment employees to work.

“The van was taking 45 people to work and crashed into the truck. The workers were injured, some of them seriously. The truck driver fled and we are searching for him.

“It is the first time we have had an accident like this in the area. We accuse him [the truck driver] of being careless when driving, causing an accident and injuring people. As we understand, he was driving very fast.

The van, on the other hand, was driving at a normal speed,” Bunthorn said,

The van driver, Siek Theng, 35, was seriously hurt in the accident and sought treatment at the provincial referral hospital, along with the other injured workers.

The referral hospital’s director, Tem Thany, said 29 workers were treated on Saturday, of which six had serious injuries and were immediately sent to a hospital in Phnom Penh for emergency treatment.

“The six suffered from broken arms, legs and hip joints, while the 23 others sustained only light injuries,” Thany said.