Three people were killed and 53 injured when a lorry carrying soil collided with a worker-transport van in Koki Thom commune, in Kandal province’s Kien Svay district on Wednesday.

Commune police chief Suon Sambath told The Post on Thursday that the injured had been sent to a hospital in Phnom Penh for treatment.

Sambath said lorry driver Mom Pich Sarath, a 38-year-old from Kien Svay district’s Chey Kampok commune, was killed in the accident.

Lun Chan, 34, a female garment worker at Skyline Apparel Co Ltd, and another unidentified female worker at Hong Xing factory also died in the accident.

“Our investigation found that this terrible traffic accident was caused by the lorry driver. He drove carelessly and ignored the traffic signs and road markings before driving into the lane of the worker-transport van,” he said.

He said the lorry was towed away and the van was being detained at the district police station. Police, he said, are waiting for representatives from both sides to come and solve the case. The bodies of the deceased were handed over to their families for final rites.

A Skyline Apparel administrative staffer who asked not to be named told The Post on Thursday that the accident killed a clever and active garment worker and injured 26 others, which has, in turn, disrupted the factory’s supply chain.

Sum Sophorn, the deputy director of the National Social Security Fund (NSFF), told The Post that the NSFF will cover treatment costs for the injured. Money was also offered to families of the deceased for funeral expenses.