PHNOM PENH, April 27 (FN) — At least 57 factory workers were injured when a truck carrying them overturned on Wednesday morning in southwestern Kampong Speu province, a local police chief said.

"The truck overturned and spilt workers onto the street after its back tire exploded," Khim Samon, police chief of Oudong district where the accident occurred, told Xinhua.

He said the truck was carrying a total of 75 workers to their factories —Can Sports Shoe and Jin Yi — in nearby Kampong Chhnang province when it met the accident at 6:10 am.

"Some 57 female-workers in the truck got wounded, 16 of them are in critical condition," he said, adding that the victims had been sent to the district referral hospital for medical attention.

The driver was detained for questioning after the crash.

Transporting factory workers in open trucks to and from factories is common in this Southeast Asian country. Last month, a driver was killed and 27 garment workers injured when their truck hit a lorry in southwestern Preah Sihanouk province.