Comic claims moto crash no accident

Written by Chrann Chamroeun

Wednesday, 29 October 2008 Phnom Penh Post

WELL-known comedian Prum Manh, 58, told the Post Tuesday his motorbike crash over the weekend, in which a car collided with him, may not have been an accident and that he continues to fear for his personal safety. Prum Manh said the trouble began on Saturday night as he returned home from a performance on Bayon TV's Purple Program. "After the act was over, I drove home in my car and noticed someone following me in a yellow car," he said. The following evening, he took his new motorbike - imported from the United States - for a test drive about one kilometre from his home in Tuol Kork district. "Before reaching my home, a similar yellow car, made in Korea, crashed into me from the right side," he said. "I was unconscious for about 10 minutes," he said. The comedian said witnesses to the accident came to his aid, and family members later accompanied him to a nearby hospital. "I received five stitches to my head and five stitches under my knee," he said. Prum Manh said the district's head traffic officer asked him to file a report about the incident and said he would try to identify the car that struck him. "I don't know whether this was an accident or a murder attempt because, according to eyewitnesses, the yellow car accelerated quickly to crash into my bike," he said. Tin Prasoeur, Phnom Penh's municipal traffic police chief, told the Post Tuesday: "I was informed by one of my officers that the car involved in the accident was yellow and made in Korea, but it will be difficult to find without the plate number." He added that police were continuing to investigate the incident and might eventually identify the vehicle, as there were likely not many such models in Cambodia. "I know the car's plate number, but I will not reveal it now," Prum Manh said. "I will only tell a competent police officer when I file an official report."