At least one worker was killed and another 31 seriously injured when a garment worker truck swerved off of National Road 41 to avoid an oncoming military truck on Friday in Kampong Speu province’s Kong Pisei district, police said yesterday.

Sok Sophal, Kong Pisei district deputy police chief, said the garment truck was carrying a total of 36 passengers northbound in Srang commune when it entered the oncoming lane of traffic, only to find that an army truck was travelling southbound in the same lane.

The garment worker truck driver swerved to avoid the army truck, clipping it before plunging into a roadside canal.

“There were 31 passengers that got seriously injured, and they were injured all over their bodies ... One worker died because she may have drowned in the water because the truck might have been on the top of her,” Sophal said.

He said the army truck belonged to the Royal Cambodian Armed Forces’ engineering department.

“After questioning him, we allowed the [driver] of the RCAF truck to go back home [because] he had not caused the accident, while the driver of the garment worker truck had run away after the accident.”