A man transporting nearly 1 and a half tonnes of illegal timber in Kampong Thom province fled the scene of a crash on Monday night that left two teenagers dead, according to police.
Kampong Thom provincial authorities say they are looking for the driver, who left behind 128 logs of luxury rosewood in his car in addition to drug paraphernalia.
Lim Hen, Kampong Thom provincial deputy police chief, said the black Lexus hit a motorbike carrying two people near Stung Sen Town in Prey Tahou commune around 8:30pm on Monday.
One victim, Noeun Net, 17, died on the spot, according to Hen. The second victim, known only as Soeub, 17, died at the hospital. The teenagers were from Kampong Svay district.
Hen said that police are searching for the driver, who was travelling from Siem Reap.
“He drove very fast and it looked like that he was taking drugs illegally because we found the materials in his car,” he said. “He was driving and using the drug ‘ice’ at the same time.”
“The motorbike was crossing the road and the car at a high speed just hit them right away,” he added.
Media outlet Fresh News identified the driver as a son-in-law of a deputy provincial Military Police commander based on an anonymous police source.
But Teb Nhata, Kampong Thom Provincial Forestry Administration director, claimed that authorities have not identified the suspect yet.
Kampong Thom Provincial Prosecutor Ith Sothea said police have not found any evidence proving the identity of the driver.
