8 People Killed in Road Accident in Cambodia

2011-03-04
Xinhua

At least 18 people were killed and seven others were seriously injured in a car crash in Sihanouk province on Friday at 1:20 p.m local time, said Horn Siha, chief of military police for Sihanouk province, told Xinhua by phone.

"The accident caused by the crash between a lorry towed container and a tourist van loaded with passengers," he said.

The drivers of both vehicles were killed instantly in the accident and the tourist van was completely destroyed. "It's almost flattened."

It's still unknown who's right and wrong as both vehicles were in high speed.

The accident happened on the national road No. 4 in Village one, in Sihanouk city of Sihanouk province, he said. The vehicles drove in opposite direction, he added.

Suth Dina's hit-and-run and his subsequent release by police attest to the lawlessness and impunity under Hun Xen's regime

Suth Dina (Photo: Cambodge Soir Hebdo)
Suth Dina's dented Lexus following his arrest after his attempt to flee the accident scene (Photo: Koh Santepheap)

Suth Dina’s hit-and-run attempt but was arrested 3 km from the accident location

Who is Suth Dina?
Suth Dina, one of the so-called chameleon politician, was successively: a former anti-government student activist, a former anti-Vietnamese activist and a former spokesman for the defunct Norodom Ranaridhh Party, before he defected to the Vietnamese-installed Cambodian People's Party after the 2008 election. He now serves as Undersecretary of State of Ministry of Foreign Affairs - With partial information provided at Khmerization

09 May 2010
By Koh Ekareach
Koh Santepheap
Translated from Khmer by Socheata

Battambang province – During an accident that was caused by a car belonging to one of the government Excellencies, there was strong reaction from the victim’s family against the Thmor Kol district cops who released the car and the driver without informing the victim’s family first, in spite of the injury sustained by the victim and the hit-and-run attempt made by the Excellency who drove the car. In fact, the Excellency was arrested earlier by a cop barrage when he sped off with a flat tire Lexus.

The accident took place at the round-about in the middle of Thmor Kol city, along National Road No. 5, at 5PM on 08 May. A police source indicated that the car causing the accident was a gray color Lexus SUV, bearing the license plate 2L1998, driven by a man named Suth Dina. The SUV was traveling from Banteay Meanchey province to Phnom Penh, and the victim’s name is Pech Leang Hot, an 18-year-old student living in Poy Yang village, Ta Poung commune, Thmor Kol district.

The victim was driving his Viva motorcycle from his home to attend an English language class when he was hit from the front by the SUV moving in the opposite direction. Witnesses to the accident said that Suth Dina’s SUV steered and hit the victim on its right. The SUV had a flat tire and it sped off to run away, but several motodoops (motorbike-taxis) chased it until it was stopped by a police barrage at Poy Yang village, Ta Poung commune. The witnesses said that a few hours after the SUV driver was arrested and his car was taken to the police station, both were released after receiving heavy interventions [from higher-ups] to help Suth Dina. However, Hang Sopheap, the deputy police commissioner of Thmor Kol district, told Koh Santepheap following the accident that: “We only released the car owner, but we kept the vehicle at the police station to resolve the issue with the victim’s side.”

Contrary to Phang Sopheap’s claim, observers of the accident reported from the police station that there was no confiscation of the SUV involved in the accident. In fact, both the driver and the SUV were released at 8PM on that same day, i.e. about 3 hours after the accident. Nevertheless, on 09 May, Koh Santepheap’s reporter met to interview Bou Saran, the victim’s father, at the Visal Sok hospital in Battambang city. Bou Saran said that his family was not informed about the release of the vehicle involved in the accident. Right now his son is under surgery at the hospital because one of his bones was smashed, and he will contact the cops to ask about this release after his son will feel better in order to obtain compensation for the loss of the motorcycle and the hospital fees.

Phang Sopheap, the deputy police commissioner involved in this case, claimed that Suth Dina will show up for the resolution of the payment claim made by the victim at a later date because the victim appears to sustain light injuries only. The action by the Thmor Kol district to release the culprit came under serious criticisms from the people who witnessed the accident. They said that because the driver in this case is a high-ranking and powerful [CPP] government official, if he were to be an ordinary citizen, he would be placed in the police cage right there in the middle of the night. Nevertheless, based on Hun Xen’s advice, he declared on many occasions that those who intervene in cases like this should stop doing that and they should stop perpetuating this intervention culture. They should let the authority or the court take care of the problem according to the law. As for the case involving His Excellency Suth Dina, it came under even more serious criticisms because he is a powerful and high-ranking government official, but when he is involved in an accident he ended up fleeing the scene as if he never understood anything about the law.

Armed, drunk driver beaten up after crashing into Cambodian sewer

Oct 23, 2009
DPA

Phnom Penh - Two men were beaten up after their car crashed into a river of sewerage in the capital Phnom Penh, local media reported Friday.

The two occupants of the car were 'deeply drunk', the Phnom Penh Post newspaper reported, when the driver lost control of the vehicle which then plunged into the open sewer that runs alongside the road.

When helpful local residents rushed to their aid, the driver pulled out his gun and threatened the crowd of would-be rescuers.

That angered the residents who set about the two men with sticks and beat them up before calling an ambulance and dispersing.

Family shattered in an instant

Lim Taing, the father of crash survivor Pho Taing expresses his pain after losing his daughter-in-law and granddaughter in a collision with a suspected drunk driver. (Lucas Oleniuk/Toronto Star)

Immigrants who persevered over war, separation and disease grapple with losses in fatal car crash

Wed Oct 21 2009
Jennifer Yang
Staff Reporter
Toronto Star (Canada)

The Taings survived war, sickness and poverty. But a speeding BMW shattered the family forever.

"In one minute. In one minute. Two die in just one minute," wept 72-year-old Lim Taing, his face covered with both hands.

His son, Pho Taing, was driving a minivan on Saturday night when it was sliced in two by a speeding BMW near Finch Ave. W. and Tobermory Dr.

Pho Taing's wife, Hon To, 44, and their 24-year-old daughter, Khan (Christine) Taing, were ejected from the minivan and killed instantly. Christine's godmother was also killed.

Pho Taing, 42, and a family friend, 36-year-old Hon Tran, were taken to the hospital with serious injuries.

The speed limit in the area is 60 kilometres an hour and police estimate the 1999 BMW 540 was travelling at 200 km/h.

Roman Luskin, 21, faces numerous charges, including impaired driving and failing to take a breathalyzer.

Pho Taing has since been released from hospital and is staying with family in the Jane and Finch area. On Tuesday, he was too grief-stricken to speak about the tragedy and spent much of the day lying in bed, a table of pills and tissues at his side.

"He wishes he could have died with her," said Lim Taing, speaking through a translator.

"He lived only to get more pain. All night long, all day long, he cries all the time and becomes sick and pained."

Lim Taing said he was worried about his son, a man who loved his family deeply and had already survived many hardships.

Originally from Cambodia, the Taing family lived through the Cambodian civil war. In 1979, they were forced to flee following the Vietnamese invasion. Lim Taing said he and his wife went to Thailand while Pho, his second-eldest child, wound up at a refugee camp in Vietnam.

The two men wouldn't see each other again for nearly 20 years. Lim Taing eventually moved to Canada with his wife but he continued searching for his son, posting ads in newspapers and asking friends and acquaintances.

Father and son eventually reconnected in the early 1990s and in 1995, Pho came to Canada as a refugee. He brought with him a new wife, Hon To, and their young daughter, Christine.

"I was very happy," Taing remembered, closing his eyes.

But the family faced hardship once again when Hon To fell ill, about 10 years ago. She was diagnosed with cancer and doctors gave her five years to live, Taing said.

Pho quit his factory job to care for his ailing wife and the family began to live off government assistance. But Hon To, a devout Buddhist, fought the disease and ultimately outlived her grim prognosis by five years.

Meanwhile, Christine enrolled in nursing studies at the University of Toronto. She was set to graduate in March.

"One of the reasons she wanted to take medicine is because she wanted to take care of her mother," Lim Taing said.

Taing said his granddaughter was an "extraordinary child" who respected her parents deeply. She was so studious she would even avoid dating, he added.

Only recently, Lim Taing had been bragging to friends about his granddaughter, he said, expressing pride in her achievements. Days later, Christine and her parents were returning home from visiting a local temple when the BMW slammed into their car.

"(Pho) told me that he completely didn't see it coming," Lim Taing said.

When Pho awoke in the hospital, he didn't know his wife and child had died, Lim Taing said. On Sunday, he insisted on leaving the hospital to see them and only then did he learn of their passing, Taing said.

Lim Taing said he feels "only pain" when thinking of the tragedy. As for the other driver, he said his fate is now for to the courts to decide.

"Why (drive) like that? Why 200 kilometres an hour?" he asked, grimacing in anguish. "It's too much."

Luskin faces three counts of impaired driving causing death, three counts of criminal negligence causing death and failure to provide a breath sample.

On Tuesday morning, the Russian immigrant appeared in court wearing a white bandage around his left hand, with visible scrapes along the right side of his head. He was remanded in custody until Oct. 30, when he will return to court to set a date for a bail hearing.

Luskin has faced other charges in the past and in 2007, he was charged with failing to provide a breathalyser sample, possessing tools for the purpose of forgery and fraud, and a court order violation. The charges were stayed or withdrawn, although the record did not state why.

That same year, Luskin also pleaded guilty to five charges related to the placing of an electronic information "skimmer" on an ATM at a Kingston Scotiabank branch, according to a story in The Kingston Whig-Standard. He was given a six-month conditional sentence to be served in the community.

With files from Brendan Kennedy, John Goddard, Denise Balkissoon, Rosie DiManno and Jesse McLean

Because he’s the son of a general, he hit and broke a motorist leg and he also threatened police officers

The confiscated Camry belonging to the general's son (Photo: Chom Chao, Koh Santepheap)

Sunday, November 16, 2008
Koh Santepheap newspaper
Translated from Khmer by Heng Soy

Kandal province – A grey Toyota Camry bearing the license plate PP 2D 9341 was arrested by the Ang Snuol district police, after it hit the driver of a motorcycle and broke his leg. The Camry driver then fled the scene of the accident, but police officers were able to chase and arrest him. At that time, the car driver claimed that he is the son of a general and he then proceeded to call his gang to come and intervene on his behalf. Nevertheless, no one came to his rescue because he was completely at fault.

The accident took place at about 4:20 PM on 13 November 2008, along National Road No. 4, near Kul village, Kantok commune, Ang Snuol district, Kandal province. The car was driven by Sam Thananel, the 18-year-old son of a one-star general. His car hit a blue Honda C90 motorcycle bearing the license place Kampong Speu 1A 0364, driven by 31-year-old Phan Nob who lives in Tuol Ta Sok village, Sen Dey commune, Samrong Tong district, Kampong Speu province. One of Phan Nob’s legs was broken from the accident.

Ang Snuol police indicated that the Camry car and the Honda motorcycle were moving in opposite direction at about the same speed, the car was traveling from the west to the east, while the motorcycle was traveling from the east to the west. At the accident location, the car overshot and hit the motorcycle. In the accident, the motorcycle driver broke one of his legs. The source also added that, after the accident, the car driver fled the scene and drove very fast in the direction of Phnom Penh, but when it arrived at the level of the Kantok commune office, there was a road block set up by military police officers to check for explosive [KI-Media note: These road blocks are mainly set up to extort money from travelers], and the police officers stopped the car. When the officers tried to confiscate the car and take it to the Ang Snuol district police office, the driver prevented it from happening, and he came out claiming that he is the son of an army general. Not only that, he also threatened to call two to three truckloads of his father’s henchmen to come over if the police officers dare confiscate his car.

However, because the accident he caused led to injuries to other people, the police officers did not worry about his threat, and they proceeded to arrest the driver as well as confiscating his car to send to the police headquarters immediately.

Korean driver accused of wiping out Cambodian family

Jul 7, 2008
DPA

Phnom Penh - A Korean driver killed five members of one Cambodian family while speeding under the influence of alcohol, police said Monday.

Police said grandparents Yiet Tann, 44, Chrun Kimsry, 43, and their daughter Yeit Srey Sros, 24, died instantly when the unnamed Korean collided with their motorbike late Saturday, and Sros' daughters Hun Phalnyta, four, and baby Hun Phalnyta died in hospital.

'The Korean guy was drunk and driving very fast on the wrong side of the road,' a traffic police official from Chom Chao district on the outskirts of the capital said by telephone.

He said the identity of the Korean had yet to be determined.

'We did find out he is Korean but he refuses to provide a name or cooperate with our investigation and he speaks no English,' the traffic police official said.

If convicted he faces life in prison, although tragedies such as this are often resolved with compensation in the Cambodian system.

Fatal car accident for a 27-year-old Cambodian student in New Zealand

Wanganui police preparing to retrieve the Honda Accord car in which a Cambodian student died on Saturday night.

23.04.2007
Student dies in Kai Iwi car plunge

By MARY BRYAN
Wanganui Chronicle (New Zealand)

A 27-YEAR-OLD, male Cambodian student, found dead in a car down a Kai Iwi bank early yesterday, is believed to have died almost instantly.

The vehicle was discovered just after 6am by a Kai Iwi resident, who noticed a hole in the fence, bordering SH3, about one and a-half km north of the Kai Iwi Tavern.

Knowing the fence had been intact the evening before, he stopped and although no vehicle could be seen directly below, he found it further along, about 30 metres down the bank.

Constable Karl Williams said the student had been living in New Zealand for about eight months and left New Plymouth on Saturday in a Honda Accord.

"He was the sole occupant of the car. "We believe he was asleep when the car went off the road, while coming down the hill, sometime between 9pm and 11pm. "

"The car hit a tree and he probably was killed instantly."

The student's name has yet to be released.

Mr Williams said distant relatives in New Zealand had been notified and they were contacting the next of kin.

Crews from two Wanganui Fire Service appliances helped retrieve the vehicle which was then towed into town where the body was recovered.

The accident was the first of several police were called to yesterday.

Just before 7am a woman driver received minor injuries in a two- vehicle collision on the Heads Rd-Guyton St intersection, which police are seeking information on.

Sergeant Andrew McDonald said the woman was driving a blue coloured Toyota Yaris along Heads Rd towards Wanganui Hospital, which was in a collision with a 1980s two-door white hatch back that drove off.

"The hatchback would have suffered damage to the front left headlight and left passenger side. I would like to hear from anyone who has any information which can help identify this car. They can contact me at the Wanganui Police Station on 3490600," Sergeant McDonald said.

At 3.30pm police attended a non injury collision on the London St-Halswell St intersection. One of the cars received moderate damage.