Pham Khai, 32, was driving a truck with 15.5 tons of charcoal on the road when the vehicle suddenly caught fire at around 3 a.m. as it was moving through Quang Nam's Phuoc Son District.
As there were no residential houses in the area, the driver had to drive to a waterfall about 3 km away to put out the fire. However, by that time, the fire had engulfed the entire truck. The charcoal fell onto the road, scaring other drivers.
By around 6:30 a.m., dozens of police officers and firefighters came to the scene to put out the flames. Due to the high amount of charcoal, it took around an hour for the fire to be put out.
A 10 km section of the Ho Chi Minh Road got jammed as a result. Vehicles could begin to move normally at around 8 a.m. when the scene was cleared.
While there was no human casualties, all the truck and its load were incinerated. Authorities said the charcoal was not cooled sufficiently before being loaded onto the truck, leading to the fire.
The Ho Chi Minh Road section running through Quang Nam spans around 200 km, running through primeval forests and along rivers where few people live.