11 killed in horrific bus collision in central Vietnam

 

Two buses ran head-on into each other in Khanh Hoa Province at around midnight Friday, killing 11, nine of them instantly

Both drivers and nine passengers were killed when two passenger buses collided head-on in the south central province of Khanh Hoa sometime after midnight Friday.

Phan Van Cuong, deputy traffic police chief of the province, said nine people died on the spot, including the two drivers Vo Ngoc Phuong, 31, who was driving down from Quang Ngai, and Ly Thanh Dung, 42, who was going north from Binh Dinh.

One person died on the way to hospital, and the other succumbed soon after being admitted.

More than 50 passengers have been admitted, including 23 with severe injuries including to the brain.

The police said Phuong had been speeding and driving on the wrong side of the road.

They have urged the province administration to pay VND2 million (US$96) to the family of each dead person and VND1 million each to the injured.

Last year saw the number of traffic accidents in Vietnam decrease by 17 percent from 2011, according to the National Committee for Traffic Safety.

Around 10,000 people died in traffic accidents in Vietnam last year, according to the National Committee for Traffic Safety, down 17 percent from a year earlier after the government launched a campaign aimed at reducing traffic accidents.

By Nguyen Chung, Thanh Nien News