PHNOM PENH (XINHUA, AFP) - Cambodia's Prince Norodom Ranariddh suffered injuries after the car he was travelling in collided with a taxi in southwestern Preah Sihanouk province on Sunday (June 17), a senior police official said.

His wife Ouk Phalla, who was with him, died from her injuries.

"The prince's wife passed away at 12.23pm (local time) due to severe injuries," General Chuon Narin, police chief of Preah Sihanouk province, was quoted as saying by Fresh News service provider.

He added that the 74-year-old prince was airlifted to a hospital in Phnom Penh for medical treatment on Sunday afternoon.

The accident took place at 9am local time in Prey Nop district when a taxi travelling in an opposite direction crashed into the prince's car. Five passengers in the taxi also suffered injuries.

"A taxi with many passengers crashed into the convoy and hit the prince's car," an official from the prince's political party who was accompanying him told AFP.

A report on the national police website showed badly damaged cars and victims on the roadside.

A spokesman from the prince's Funcinpec Party told Xinhua that the prince suffered injuries on his leg in the accident.

Prince Ranariddh was travelling from the riverside town of Kampot to Preah Sihanouk as part of campaigning for controversial national elections set for July 29.

He is a son of the late King Father Norodom Sihanouk.

The prince is also the president of the Supreme Privy Advisory Council to King Norodom Sihamoni, his half-brother.

The prince was former co-prime minister from 1993 to 1997 and ex-president of the National Assembly from 1998 to 2006.

Traffic accidents are a leading cause of death in Cambodia, where road rules are weakly enforced. Highways also lack dividers while speed limits are often ignored.

In 2015, Prince Ranariddh was slightly injured when his car was hit by a truck.