Three passengers were killed and 11 others seriously injured when the truck they were riding in turned turtle in Mondulkiri province’s O’Rang district.

The incident happened in the early hours of Wednesday.

District police chief Bou Bunchheath said two of the passengers died on the spot while the third succumbed to injuries in hospital.

He said the driver and his two assistants fled the scene after their heavy truck carrying pepper pods took a curve and flipped over at around 12:30am in Sen Monorom commune’s Andong Kraloeng village.

The truck bearing a Phnom Penh licence plate was transporting pepper pods from Tbong Khmum province’s Memot district to Mondulkiri.