Six injured as drunk Hanoi woman crashes car into several vehicles

At around 5:30 p.m. Nguyen Thu Trang, 29, was driving her car on Trich Xai Street in Tay Ho District when she seemed to lose control and mounted the sidewalk, mowing down three pedestrians.

Eyewitnesses said she did not slow down and continued on, knocking down four motorbikes and ramming a police car.

She then reversed and hit three more motorbikes and only came to a halt after slamming into a taxi.

Six people were injured and were rushed to a local hospital.

An eyewitness said: "There was a lot of screaming at the time of the accident. A high school student suffered severe injuries after being swept under the car."

Several of the motorbikes were badly damaged. Trang is being held at the police station for questioning.

Her alcohol test result was 0.7 miligrams per liter of breath. The alcohol level allowed for car drivers in Vietnam is zero, and for motorbike drivers up to 0.25 miligrams per liter.

An officer said, "The driver had consumed a lot of alcohol and lost control."

Last October a woman in Saigon ran her BMW car into several motorbikes waiting at a traffic light at the Hang Xanh intersection. At least one person died and five people were injured in the accident.

Nguyen Thi Nga, 46, a restaurant owner, was driving under the influence, the police said.

The accident sparked widespread outrage on social media. Nga was arrested and faces a jail sentence of up to 10 years.

Road crashes are a common cause of death in Vietnam, killing almost one person every hour, according to official figures.

Flouting road safety norms and causing deaths is punishable by up to 15 years in jail.