Bus crash leaves 12 dead in Vietnam's Central Highlands

By VnExpress   May 6, 2017 | 07:45 pm PT
The night bus was hit by a fertilizer truck that appears to have been driving in the wrong lane along the Ho Chi Minh Highway on Sunday morning.

A night bus heading from Dak Lak to Kon Tum hit a truck in the early hours of Sunday morning killing 12 passengers as it was traveling through Chu Se District, Gia Lai Province.

The truck was flipped over by the collision, while the front of the bus was heavily damaged.

“It sounded like a huge explosion. We saw some passengers thrown to the ground, but many were also stuck on the bus and crying for help,” a witness said at the scene.

The crash completely smashed the front of the bus. Photo by VnExpress/Nhat Ha

The crash completely smashed the front of the bus. Photo by VnExpress/Nhat Ha

“The passengers were stuck inside the bus,” said Pham Van Uan, chief of Gia Lai's Traffic Police Department. “We had to cut the entrance open to rescue them. We are still looking into the cause of the crash.”

There were reportedly 36 people on board the bus and two in the truck.

According to an eyewitness account, the truck had been speeding and overtaking passenger buses running in the same lane until it hit the night bus coming in the opposite direction.

Chu Se District lies about 40km (25 miles) south of Pleiku. The accident took place around a mile from Chu Se Market.

 
 
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