A horrific truck accident in Pailin province has claimed the life of a seven-year-old boy and a 20-year-old woman.

The child and woman were killed instantly, crushed to death when the truck they were travelling in, which was overloaded with cassava and eight other passengers, overturned on Tuesday at about 2:15pm.

According to police, the truck was travelling at high speeds along a small road in Stung Trang commune in Sala Krao district when the left front tyre burst, causing the truck to flip.

Of the eight other passengers in the truck, three – including the boy’s parents – were critically injured, while the other five received minor injuries.

According to a report released earlier this month by the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, the road death toll from January to June this year is 1,075.

To contact the reporter on this story: Phak Seangly at [email protected]