Five young schoolgirls have died and 21 other students have been injured after a bus carrying children to school suddenly veered off a road and plunged into a deep pond, sparking a desperate rescue operation.
The devastating accident occurred around 7:10 a.m. Tuesday, November 10, in Cambodia’s Kandal province, approximately 25 miles north of the capital, Phnom Penh.
The privately operated bus was transporting 26 children, ages 12 to 14, to BELTEI International School when the morning commute turned into tragedy.
According to local police, the 31-year-old driver was traveling along National Road 8 when a motorcycle reportedly crossed directly in front of the vehicle.
Investigators believe the driver slammed on the brakes and lost control, sending the bus skidding off the roadway and into a roadside pond.
Within moments, the vehicle was submerged in water deep enough to make escaping extremely difficult for the children trapped inside.
Witnesses described a frantic scene as nearby villagers rushed toward the pond and desperately tried to pull students from the sinking vehicle.
Some residents performed CPR on children after bringing them to shore, while others worked to rescue those still inside.
Despite their efforts, five girls between the ages of 12 and 14 drowned.
Another 21 students survived the crash, although three suffered serious injuries and were rushed to hospitals for emergency treatment. The remaining 18 sustained minor injuries, according to authorities.
Nov Sokhon, chief of traffic police in Khsach Kandal district, confirmed that drowning caused the five deaths.
He also credited the extraordinary actions of local residents with preventing an even greater tragedy, explaining that more children might have died without their immediate intervention.
Images from the crash scene showed the white passenger bus partially submerged near the pond’s edge as police, rescue workers and shaken residents gathered around the area.
The bus, a 25-seat Mitsubishi vehicle, had been carrying 26 students at the time of the accident, including 12 boys and 14 girls.
Authorities confirmed that the transportation service had been privately arranged by the children’s families and was not operated directly by BELTEI International School.
As investigators examined the wreckage, police raised troubling questions about the driver’s actions immediately before the crash.
In a preliminary statement, Kandal provincial police alleged that the driver had been traveling at excessive speed and had failed to exercise sufficient caution.
The driver, identified in local reporting as 31-year-old Meun Thearith, was detained for questioning as investigators began preparing a case file.
Officials have not announced a final determination of responsibility for the crash, and the circumstances surrounding the motorcycle’s involvement remain under investigation.
The tragedy has devastated the local community, with relatives gathering near the scene as authorities worked to recover the vehicle and investigate what went wrong.
BELTEI International School officials expressed profound sorrow over the deaths and extended condolences to the victims’ families.
The school also reportedly arranged financial assistance for the grieving families, refunded tuition payments for the five children who died and offered scholarships to their siblings.
The deadly crash has renewed concerns about road safety in Cambodia, where serious traffic accidents remain a persistent problem.
According to figures released by the country’s National Police, road accidents claimed more than 1,300 lives during the first 10 months of 2026.
A separate government report recorded 1,467 traffic-related deaths in 2025, underscoring the dangers facing motorists and passengers throughout the country.
For five families, however, those statistics now represent an unimaginable personal loss.
What began as an ordinary school morning ended in tragedy, with five children never reaching their classrooms and a community mourning lives cut devastatingly short.