At least 9 killed as bus hits train on northern railway

A train crashed into a passenger bus in Hanoi Sunday morning, killing a motorist on the road and five bus passangers.

The bus was crossing the railway at around 10:30 a.m. when it’s tail end was hit by the southbound train. The bus was pushed into a motorbike, killing the driver before it turned over several times.

Three bus passangers were killed on the spot.

The bus was carrying 29 people who had just participated in an engagement ceremony as members of the groom’s party. All others on the bus have been hospitalized locally, while four have been rushed in critical condition to better hospitals in the city for emergency treatment .

As of Monday afternoon, police said nine people had died in the accident altogether, including Nguyen Thi Thanh Huong, 43, and her 13-year-old daughter Tran Ngoc Diep.

The bus driver and the future groom only received slight injuries.

Police said the bus driver was probably did not look to both sides of the tracks when he crossed the railway.

At the crossroad, the train signal was out of order with a note saying it was under construction while another pole with warning lights was collapsed, the local newswire Vnexpress said Monday.

Nguyen Huu Tuyen, head of commercial transport at Vietnam Railways, said the company had supported the families of the dead with VND2 million (US$111) each while providing the injured with VND1 million.

Nguyen Van Phuong, a Hanoi police officer, said the bus driver Phan Xuan Lang has been kept in custody and might face criminal charges. They also said the railway authorities would be blamed for the accident.

Police are investigating the cause of the accident and identifying the victims.

Another train collided with a truck on Sunday in the south central Binh Dinh Province killing the truck driver Phan Ngoc Be, a 37-year-old local, on the spot, Vietnam News Agency said Monday.

The crossroad between the road and the railway then was not guarded and had no barriers.

Doan Nhu Thien, 45, from the central Khanh Hoa Province, was driving the train.

Source: thanhniennews.com