Three men on a motorbike died in a head-on collision with an ambulance in Kampong Cham province’s Svay Pek village on Saturday.

According to Sok Soul, deputy Batheay district police chief in charge of road traffic, the ambulance was transporting an injured man from Kratie province. After the accident, he said, the injured man’s wife called a taxi to transport him to a Phnom Penh hospital. The ambulance driver fled the scene.

The crash occurred on a stretch of National Road 6 on which the left side was closed.

“The victims may [have thought] there were no cars from the opposite direction, but actually there were a lot of cars and buses [coming from] the opposite side,” Soul said. “We are working on this case and sending it to court; I cannot say which side is wrong.”

Soul said the ambulance belonged to the Prek Prasob health centre in Kratie and that two phone numbers painted on the vehicle did not answer.

“I think sometimes people don’t respect the ambulance’s priority,” said Ear Chariya, director of the Institute for Road Safety. “But sometimes, ambulance drivers don’t respect other drivers.” According to Chariya, the emergency drivers often don’t receive training.

“I would suggest the government start training for ambulance and fire truck drivers to make sure they have appropriate driver’s licences and respect other people,” he said.