Former Cambodian PM Ranariddh Hurt in Car Crash, Wife Killed

In this Sunday, June 3, 2012, file photo, Cambodian Prince Norodom Ranariddh greets people before casting his ballot in a local elections at the Wat Than temple in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ranariddh, 74, has been seriously injured in a road crash that killed his wife and injured at least seven other people early Sunday. Photo: Heng Sinith / Associated Press
In this Sunday, June 3, 2012, file photo, Cambodian Prince Norodom Ranariddh greets people before casting his ballot in a local elections at the Wat Than temple in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. Ranariddh, 74, has been seriously injured in a road crash that killed his wife and injured at least seven other people early Sunday. Photo: Heng Sinith / Associated Press

PHNOM PENH — Former Cambodian Prime Minister Prince Norodom Ranariddh has been seriously injured in a road crash that killed his wife and injured at least seven other people.

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A senior official from his FUNCINPEC political party said the 74-year-old Ranariddh was in a convoy Sunday along with senior party figures heading toward Sihanoukville in southwest Cambodia when a taxi traveling in the opposite direction slammed into his SUV.

Sihanoukville police chief Gen. Chuon Narin said Ranariddh — a son of the late King Norodom Sihanouk — suffered head injuries. He was transferred to Phnom Penh for urgent treatment. Chuon Narin said Ranariddh’s wife, Ouk Phalla, died in a hospital.

Ranariddh was co-prime minister for four years in a power-sharing arrangement with current Prime Minister Hun Sen after a U.N.-organized election in 1993.

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