Army Truck Carrying Illegal Timber Kills Family

A family of three, including an 18-year old girl, died when the driver of a military truck carrying illegally cut wood slammed into their motorbike in Siem Reap province, officials said yesterday. The family died at the scene while the occupants of the military truck, seen by witnesses wearing Royal Cambodian Armed Forces (RCAF) uniforms, escaped on foot. ... "All of wood being transported in the truck is illegal. They did not have a permit letter," he [Thong Sokairy, the Forestry Administration chief in Banteay Srey district] said. "Our forestry officers sometimes turn a blind eye to them," he conceded, claiming his officers were often afraid to intervene when they came across members of the armed forces who were involved in illegal logging. ...