7 killed, 5 injured after minibus falls into canal in NW Cambodia

[geovalin]

PHNOM PENH, Nov. 6 (Xinhua) -- Seven people, including a Cambodian driver and six Vietnamese passengers were killed and five other Vietnamese passengers injured after a minibus veered off a road and plunged into a canal in northwestern Cambodia early on Friday, a local police chief said.

 

Sok Sotheavuth, police chief of Chi Kreng district, said the accident was reported at 2:40 a.m. local time on National Road No. 6 in Siem Reap Province's Chi Kreng district when the vehicle was traveling from Kampong Cham province to Thai border.

 

A Cambodian driver and six Vietnamese passengers including a six-year-old girl were pronounced dead after the minibus fell into the canal, he told Xinhua. They likely died from drowning.

 

Sotheavuth added that five other Vietnamese passengers survived the accident, but sustained injuries after they broke the minibus windows to get out when the minibus was submerging into the water.

 

"Speedy and drowsy driving was blamed for the crash," he said.

Death toll from road traffic accidents remains high in the Southeast Asian nation. In the first nine months of 2020, some 1,257 people were killed in road accidents and 3,663 others injured, according to government figures.

 

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2020-11/06/c_139496145.htm

[Scouse123]

Very sad indeed. Terrible news.

 

I wonder why they were driving to the Thai border when it is closed to outside nationals?