Car driver arrested for crash killing teen in northern Vietnam
Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc has ordered the northern province of Phu Tho to quickly investigate an accident in which a state-owned car crashed into five schoolboys, killing one and seriously injuring the others.
Phuc, who doubles as chairman of the National Committee for Traffic Safety, ordered Phu Tho police to investigate the cause of the accident and strictly punish the car driver, if found guilty.
The accident happened at 1:30 p.m. on April 1 near a school in Phu Tho’s Thanh Ba District. The sedan belonging to the Phu Tho Province’s Labor Federation suddenly plunged into the left side of the road and crashed into a group of schoolboys standing on the roadside.
One of the victims, 15, died on the spot.
The four other boys, all aged 13, were severely injured. They were rushed to hospital with multiple injuries. Eyewitnesses said the car driver seemed to have lost control of the vehicle shortly before the crash.
Police arrived at the accident site and arrested Nguyen Xuan Hoi, the 32-year-old driver, for questioning.
Tested showed Hoi was not drunk when he caused the accident.
He told police he had tried to evade a motorbike and swerved into the left side of the road, causing the accident.
Initial investigation showed Hoi had been driving on the wrong lane.
He has been taken into custody for further investigation.
Deputy PM Phuc sent condolences to the family of the dead victim and his regards to the injured ones, and asked Phu Tho authorities to provide them with the best treatment.
In 2013, a senior official in the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong had his seven-seat SUV crash through a street barrier and plunged into three motorbikes traveling in the opposite direction.
The accident killed on man on the spot and critically injured three others.
But in a move that raised public eyebrow, in late 2013 state prosecutors dropped criminal charges against that official.