5 killed in collision between sleeper coach and truck in central Vietnam

The sleeper coach after the accident. Photo by VnExpress/Thach Thao

Five people died when a low-loader and a sleeper coach collided in Vietnam's south-central province of Binh Dinh on Wednesday night.

The coach was carrying 16 passengers from Ho Chi Minh City to Hue when the accident occurred on Highway 1. 

The left side of the coach was ripped off in the incident, and six people were also seriously injured. No casualties were reported on the low-loader, which was carrying two bulldozers at the time.

District authorities told VnExpress that the bus driver, Nguyen Long Ho, had been driving at "a high speed" and had "lost control" of the coach. 

Binh Dinh Province has donated $440 to each of the deceased's families. 

In Vietnam, express coaches remain a popular, quick and low-cost form of transport, despite frequent fatal accidents.

Last month on Highway 1, three sleeper coaches collided, killing three people and injuring 17. In June, a passenger coach carrying 40 students and teachers on a high school vacation crashed into a truck, killing two.