Six people were killed and two others seriously injured in a traffic accident between a truck and four motorcycles in Kampong Svay commune’s Prek Dong village of Kandal province’s Kien Svay district at 1am on December 19, according to district police chief Prum Samnang.
Samnang said that prior to the incident, witnesses saw two men speeding in a red Toyota Tundra pick-up down St 110 from east to west when they encountered four motorcycles carrying eight people that were apparently racing each other at high speeds on the narrow street.
“The truck and motorcycles – which were headed in opposite directions – crashed into each other, killing five of the motorcycle riders instantly and another died on the way to the hospital. The other two on motorcycles were seriously injured and are being treated at Malis Polyclinic and Maternity Hospital,” he said.
According to the report by the district traffic police seen by The Post on the afternoon of December 19, the diseased, aged 17 to 21, were residents of the district.
The injured, both 20 years old, were residents of Prek Thmey village and commune in Phnom Penh’s Meanchey district.
The report added that the truck’s driver, Ly Chamnan, 31, and his passenger Nam Bunthan, 22, were detained for questioning at the Kien Svay district police station. They were both residents of the district.
“The accident was caused by the negligence of the driver who did not respect the right of way and drove at high speeds,” deputy district police chief in charge of traffic Hang Panara told The Post.
At the scene, the police collected a samurai sword and a machete that apparently belonged to the group of young motorists.
Samnang told The Post that one of the men injured in the accident denied that the weapons belonged to his dead friends while the other claimed that their friends had them for self-defence only and not to attempt to intimidate anyone.
“We will continue to investigate this case, because ordinary people usually never ride a motorcycle anywhere in the middle of the night carrying a sword and a machete like that,” he said.
He said that at this time the truck, motorcycles and weapons were all taken to the Kien Svay district police station as evidence according to procedure.
