Saturday, June 16, 2007

Three illegal Cambodian immigrants to Thailand dead, and 23 hurt in road accident

Three dead and 23 hurt in road accident

Saturday June 16, 2007
MANIT SANUBBOON
Bangkok Post


Prachin Buri - Three illegal immigrants including a 10-year-old boy were killed and over 20 others injured yesterday in a car chase that ended in a deadly crash, police said. A total of 26 Cambodian nationals including a 10-year-old and a 4-year-old were travelling in a pick-up truck when the crash occurred at a sharp bend on Prachintakham road in Muang district.

Police said they did not know who was chasing the pick-up, but the injured said they thought it may have been police or other state authorities.

Two of the passengers died at the scene while the 10-year-old was pronounced dead at hospital. The pick-up truck was badly damaged in the accident.

According to the injured, they had sneaked into the country via Sa Kaeo province and met the pick-up truck driver at a meeting point at Rong Klua market.

They paid 2,500 baht each to the driver who was supposed to drop them in eastern provinces.

When the vehicle was in Kabin Buri district, they discovered that they were being followed by two pick-up trucks. Before the crash, the two trucks allegedly fired several warning shots and the driver sped up to try and outrun them.

''When we reached the bend, the car spun off the road and crashed,'' said a 25-year-old Cambodian man from Siem Reap who sustained minor injuries.

He was going to work in a farm in Rayong's Pluak Daeng district where he was due to be paid a daily wage of 130 baht for his labour.

He said 10 of them were in the passenger cabin in the front and 16 others in the back of the truck. Most of them were returning to old jobs while the others were looking for work.

San, 31, from Siem Reap, who lost her son in the crash, said she had gone back to Cambodia to collect her son and four-year-old daughter.

She said that she worked at a pineapple farm in Chon Buri with her husband and earned a combined wage of 300 baht a day.

''I went back on Sunday to take them to Chon Buri, so we could be a family again. When the car crashed, I could only grab the girl,'' she said.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is so sad to hear Cambodians fleeing for Jobs in Thailand. It's a big risky for them. May our government eliminate corupption and creat more jobs for Poor Cambodian, they are not lazy, but can not find jobs. Our leaders pls look at coutrymen and stop doing evil things wich suffer many of our population.

Anonymous said...

Sad story. This is what happen when Cambodia government care only about the rich and not the poor. The poor end up looking for jobs in other places with a chance of getting kill. If we have intellictuals in the government this would not happen.

Anonymous said...

That is really sad but do you think Hun Sen headache? No in my perspective is absolutely not ,if he cared why his wife and his family 08 more heads cleared up the jungle and want to make cambodia like Sahara ? ? How much$$$$ those family's tree people has? why the land grabbing under Hun Sen nose ,and not seeing? Why those people very rich on the poor Cambodian back in 2008 coming if our own Cambodian PPL voting for them, there ours fault je't roy ,do not put the blame to some body else ?