A Chinese couple was killed and five Cambodians injured in a traffic accident on National Road 5 in Banteay Meanchey province’s O’Chrou district on Tuesday afternoon, a senior policeman said on Wednesday.

Banteay Meanchey provincial deputy police chief Um Sophal, who is in charge of traffic, told The Post on Wednesday that the two Chinese nationals were identified as Zhang Zuhui, 28, from China’s Guang Xi province, and his girlfriend Ye Dandan, 27, from Guangdong province.

The two were killed instantly, Sophal said.

Their car was travelling from Siem Reap International Airport to Banteay Meanchey province when it collided with another vehicle driving in the same direction in Koup commune’s Khay Done village.

“The bodies of two Chinese nationals were handed over to an official from the Chinese Embassy in Phnom Penh on Wednesday morning, so they can be returned to their families in China to conduct funeral rites,” he said.

Sophal said their Cambodian driver, Lean Pov, 35, a resident of Brochea Thorm village in Poipet city’s Phsar Kandal commune, was driving a Lexus 330.

Lean Pov was severely injured in the accident and was sent to the Cambodia-Japan Friendship Hospital in Sisophon district where he was placed under police supervision.

Norng Sok, 30, the driver of the other car, a Hyundai, and his three passengers were sent to the hospital with serious and minor injuries, Sophal said.

“After inspecting the scene of the accident, we believe the vehicle carrying the Chinese couple, driven by Lean Pov, was responsible for the collision because the car tried to overtake in dangerous conditions,” he said.

Kong Sovann, a technical adviser at the Ministry of Rural Development, told The Post on Monday that human error contributed to more than 90 per cent of road accidents in the Kingdom, citing a recent study.

He lamented that drivers often travel too fast, under the influence of alcohol or “did other careless things like looking at mobile phones, playing with the passengers and looking away from the road while reaching down to pick up items”.

“We notice that people often make mistakes. However, [the government] should make the roads safer for motorists and help to prevent deaths on the road,” Sovann said.