Five injured in coach accident

A coach crashed into a house during the early hours of this morning, injuring five people at the junction of Highway 9 and Tran Hung Dao Road in the central province of Quang Tri's Dong Ha City.

The 45-seat coach which was heading north completely destroyed the house and its contents.

Owner of the house Nguyen Thi Hoai Phuong, 36, and her two young children suffered mild injuries, but the coach driver and owner are in a serious condition. They are undergoing treatment at Quang Tri Hospital.

Passengers were moved to another coach to continue their journey.

The 45-seat coach was reportedly carrying 70 passengers when the accident occurred.

One dead, five hurt in coach crash

One person died and five others were injured when two coaches crashed into each other yesterday, Jan 16, on National Highway 1A in central Thua Thien Hue Province's Phu Loc District.

It is thought one of the coaches, which had 50-seats, was in the wrong lane when it piled into the other, a 15-seater.

The accident brought traffic to a standstill for an hour.

Sua tree loggers return - again

Thieves illegally cut down two sua (Dalbergia tonkinensis) trees in Cau Giay and Thanh Xuan districts in Ha Noi City this week.

Local police are attempting to investigate the cases.

As many as 17 sua trees up to 40 years old have been illegally felled since July 2009.

The sua trees have been listed as an endangered species in Viet Nam.

Meningococcal disease on rise

The Ha Noi-based National Hospital of Tropical Diseases has confirmed that a 21-year-old female patient has contracted meningococcal disease (Neisseria meningitides).

This is the first case of the disease reported in the north this year.

The patient is recovering from fever and lowered her blood pressure.

According to World Health Organisation (WHO), the disease, is spread through respiratory droplets from infected people.

Youths released in rape case to be jailed again

Three young men who were sentenced for rape and robbery in 2002 in Ha Dong Province, but were released last February under a protest by the Supreme People’s Procuracy, are to be jailed again under a decision from the Hanoi People’s Court.

In its decision issued on January 12, 2012, the court said Nguyen Dinh Loi, Nguyen Dinh Tinh and Nguyen Dinh Kien, of Yen Nghia District, Ha Dong Province, must present themselves to police within seven days on receipt of the decision to continue serving the remaining terms of their sentences, or they will be escorted by police to the prison.

On October 24, 2000, a rape and robbery case occurred in Yen Nghia and the police, based on the evidence of a shirt left behind at the scene, launched an investigation and later seized the three young men.

On January 21, 2002, the Ha Tay Province People’s Court [at that time Yen Nghia belonged to Ha Tay] opened the first instance trial for the three and sentenced Loi, Tinh and Kien to 16, 14, and 11 years in prison, respectively.

All the convicted appealed, saying they were sentenced unjustly, but the appeal hearing that was held three months later upheld the first instance sentences. The youths were thus jailed while their families continued filing petitions to various competent agencies for a re-considering of the verdicts.

At that time former State President Nguyen Minh Triet asked the Supreme People’s Procuracy to review the case.

In early 2010, the Procuracy issued a protest against the verdicts, announcing that the three had not committed rape and robbery and requesting a reconsideration hearing be held to have a final conclusion on the case.

 “The investigation agency has investigated non-objectively, insufficiently and non-thoroughly. Much evidence has not been clarified and the agency has seriously violated regulations on criminal proceedings. Both the first instance and appeal verdicts are groundless, since they have been based on non-objective investigation results,” the prosecutor’s office said in its announcement.

Based on the protest, the three young men were temporarily released in early February 2010.

Nearly two years later, on December 7, 2011, the re-consideration hearing was opened and the relevant court rejected the protest by the Supreme People’s Procurary, and judged that the three convicted persons had to continue serving their unfinished sentences.

Under this latest judgment, Loi will be put in jail again for more than six years, while Tinh and Kien will continue serving more than four years and more than one year in prison, respectively.

The three young men said they received the decision yesterday evening and have filed their petitions to the Party General Secretary, the State President, the National Assembly Chairman, and the NA’s Justice Committee for reviewing the re-consideration judgment.

Rare turtle caught off Thua Thien Hue

A rare loggerhead turtle was caught earlier this month in waters off Phu Dien Commune in central Thua Thien Hue Province.

The animal, botanically known as Caretta caretta Linnacus or Quan Dong in Vietnamese, weighed 80 kilos and was 85cm in length. It is listed as one of five rarest and endangered species by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

Fishermen freed the turtle later the same day.

VNN/VOV/VNS/Tuoi Tre