A woman has died and three people injured after their car crashed into a train on Wednesday morning in the Yên Tiến Commune, Ý Yên District, northern province of Nam Định.

The car is damaged after crashing into a running train in Ý Yên District, Nam Định Province. — Photo Vietnamplus.vn

The car reportedly crossed a level-crossing without proper attention and hit a moving train, Vice Chairman of the commune People’s Committee Lã Đình Tiến said.

On the same day, Transport Minister Nguyễn Văn Thể criticised railway officials after a spate of serious accidents.

Out of five railway accidents in late May three were caused by mistakes by railway staff.

The crash between a lorry and passenger bus on the Hà Nội-Bắc Giang National Highway Expressway on May 27 left two people dead and six injured.

Earlier, two trains – ASY2 travelling from HCM City to Hà Nội – and a cargo train running from the opposite direction collided in an entrance section to Núi Thành railway station in central Quảng Nam Province.

The minister strongly criticised Việt Nam Railway Corporation Members’ Council, especially head of the council Vũ Anh Minh and director general Vũ Tá Tùng.

The minister also criticised the Railway Department under the ministry, singling out head of the department Vũ Quang Khôi for not fulfilling his management and inspection responsibilities.

Thể asked Việt Nam Railway Corporation Members’ Council to review and address problems that threaten railway safety.

In the first half of this year, there have been 62 railway accidents, killing 53 people and injuring 28.

During the same period in 2017, there were 48 accidents claiming 41 lives and 26 people were injured.

Coach driver asleep before deadly accident

The coach was severely damaged after the accident. Thirteen people were killed and four others injured after it hit a container truck on the stretch of National Highway 1A in the central province of Quảng Nam on Monday. '

The driver of the coach involved in a collision that killed 13 people in the central province of Quảng Nam on Monday lost control of the vehicle after falling asleep, said an official from the National Traffic Safety Committee.

Investigations by the committee show the coach swerved left and hit a truck travelling the opposite direction, Khuất Việt Hùng, vice chairman of the committee, revealed on Wednesday.

The coach had been carrying passengers on a contract basis without registering as a transportation business with the authorities, Hùng said.

“It is highly likely that the coach driver fell asleep at the wheel,” he told Vietnamnet. “He had driven two trips in a row without rest.”

Since the driver was killed in the accident, the owner of the coach will be held accountable for the accident where necessary, he added.

The coach was “swerving across the road” before it hit the truck, said the truck driver.

The Directorate for Roads of Việt Nam said it was unable to get the coach’s tracking data since the vehicle had not been registered with the authorities.

Thirteen people were killed and four others injured after the coach crashed into the container truck on Monday.

The coach was delivering a wedding party, escorting the groom from the central province of Quảng Nam to the bride’s house in the central province of Bình Định – some 500km from where it departed. The groom died at the scene. 

 VNS