Bus that left Angkor Wat plunges off bridge, killing 13

At least 13 passengers were killed and two dozen others were injured when a passenger bus crashed off a bridge into a river in Cambodia, police said.

The bus crashed at dawn in the central Kampong Thom district as it was heading from Siem Reap, home to the country’s legendary Angkor Wat temple complex, to the capital Phnom Penh, Siv Sovanna, the region’s deputy police chief, told The Associated Press by phone.

He said all those on the bus were Cambodian citizens.

Siv Sovanna said preliminary investigation suggested the driver was sleepy after setting off from Siem Reap at night for what would normally be a journey of about five and a half hours.

It was not stated whether the driver was among the dead.

While approximately 40 passengers were thought to have boarded the bus, rescue teams continued their search to find another victim on Thursday.

Siv Sovanna said the bodies of those killed would be kept in a hospital near the scene of the accident until they can be collected by their relatives.

According to the data of the Ministry of Public Works and Transport, 1509 people died in traffic accidents in Cambodia in 2024, while 1062 people died in the country in the first nine months of 2025.