VietNamNet Bridge – Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc yesterday (Jan 25) ordered an all-out inspection of automobile registration across the country after at least nine people were killed in an accident which involved a truck that registration had expired.

Nine people were killed and five others injured after a minibus collided with a truck on Saturday in Thanh Hoa Province's Xuan Quy Commune.

The head-on collision between a truck and a minibus occurred on Saturday afternoon in Thanh Hoa Province's Xuan Quy Commune.

A report by the Viet Nam Registration Agency said the truck, labelled IFA, was manufactured in 1989 in Germany, and its registration had expired on January 1 this year.

Apart from the poor quality of the truck, provincial police said another cause was the minibus driver falling asleep at the wheel.

Colonel Le Trung Hieu, a police department spokesperson, said the minibus driver lost control of the vehicle after falling asleep, resulting in the bus hitting the right side of the road before crashing into the truck.

Three of the injured people, who were taken to Thanh Hoa General Hospital, were no longer in a critical condition, said Pham Phuoc Sang, deputy head of the hospital's planning office.

The minibus was carrying 13 family members from Nghe An to Ha Noi for a wedding party that was scheduled for yesterday.

Deputy PM Phuc, also chairman of the National Committee Traffic Safety, yesterday sent his condolences to the victims' families.

The latest statistics from the National Committee Traffic Safety showed that 781 people were killed and 2,050 were injured in traffic accidents between December 16, 2014 and Jan 15, 2015.

Compared to the same period the previous years, the death toll was down 119, while 155 less people were injured.

VNS