As road accidents rise, garment workers face a dangerous commute
Early on the morning of 12 February while heading to her shift at the garment factory in Kampong Speu province, Soth Vy was the last of about 40 workers to climb onto the standing platform of the truck that came to her village. She enjoyed the cool breeze as she stood at the back in the dark of dawn.
“The next thing I remember was the truck suddenly slowing down… then, gradually, it veered off the road,” she said. “And then we fell into a ditch. Then I remember that I was hit by a heavy weight.”
Sandwiched beneath a dozen other passengers, Vy’s hamstring snapped from the crush of people falling on her in the ditch, their weight causing blood clots in her chest, abdomen and ribs.
ASHLEY HUI YIN TAN
