Lieutenant-colonel Hou Nhoem, deputy commander of the Kampong Thom Provincial Military Operational Zone, died in a traffic accident after losing control of his car while fleeing the scene of a hit-and-run in Siem Reap province yesterday afternoon, police sources said.

“He hit a motorbike and caused two young girls serious injury. He drove very fast in order to escape from the scene,” Captain Srey Samol, deputy chief of the Chikreng district police, said. “His car hit a big tree at the circle road, and he immediately died.”

Srey Samol said Hou Nhoem’s body was removed from the vehicle and brought to his family in Oddar Meanchey province.

To contact the reporter on this story: Buth Reaksmey Kongkea at [email protected]