Cambodian prince hurt in crash, wife dies

PHNOM PENH: A Cambodian prince and former prime minister was injured in a head-on collision on a highway in the country’s southwest yesterday.

Prince Norodom Ranariddh ( and his wife Ouk Phalla were rushed to hospital after a taxi travelling in the other direction slammed into his motorcade, said an official from Ranarridh’s political party.

Phalla later died of her injuries, while seven others were reportedly injured.

Chuon Narin, police chief of Preah Sihanouk province where the accident happened, confirmed the crash but said he did not know how severe the injuries were.

Ranariddh, 74, was travelling from Kampot to Preah Sihanouk as part of campaigning for controversial national elections set for July 29.

His Funcinpec party is taking part despite widespread complaints that the poll will be neither free nor fair after the main opposition group, the Cambodia National Rescue Party, was banned last year.

Hun Sen, the prime minister who has been in power for 33 years, has crushed dissent leading up to the election, ensuring victory for his ruling Cambodian People’s Party.

Ranariddh, the halfbrother of Cambodia’s King Norodom Sihamoni, has had a historically fraught relationship with Hun Sen, who pushed him out of power in 1997. – AFP