One of the injured passengers in the collision between a Mekong Express minibus and a right-hand drive truck that claimed the lives of nine people in Battambang on Monday was Phnom Penh Crown FC community coach Channou Keng, the club has announced.
“Staff from PPCFC including head coach Sam Schweingruber and general-secretary Ly Heang have travelled to be with her, alongside colleagues from SALT Academy, where [Keng] spent four years as part of the Mighty Girls program, under [Schweingruber’s] direction,” Crown said on its Facebook page.
Cambodian media reports stated that Keng’s injuries included fractured neck vertebrae and bleeding on the brain. She is undergoing treatment at a hospital in Battambang. Keng, a goalkeeper, has played for and coached the Cambodian national women’s team, according to the Crown post.
Keng “moved to Phnom Penh to attend university and be part of PPCFC’s community program as a coach”. She is the general coordinator for matches played at the club’s RSN Stadium.
“Our positive thoughts and prayers are with our community coach Channou Keng, who is receiving treatment in Battambang for serious injuries sustained in [the] accident,” the six-time Metfone C-League champions said. “We are all hoping that she makes a complete recovery from her injuries.”
Battambang traffic police chief San Kimsan said the truck was mostly to blame – explaining that because it was a right-hand-driving vehicle, it had to veer all the way into a lane of oncoming cars in order to be able to see the traffic while overtaking, the Post reported yesterday.
However, Kimsan added, the Mekong Express bus was driving at a speed of more than 100km/h, which also contributed to the deaths. In December, Crown head coach Schweingruber was hospitalised after a motorcycle accident in the capital.
