Train driver, guards face prosecution after accident

Police in southern Dong Nai Province have decided to start legal procedures against those allegedly responsible for a train colliding with six cars on Sunday night. Two people were killed and 24 injured.

Thong Nhat train collided with cars

Witnesses said the South-North passenger train from HCM City hit vehicles that were traveling in the same direction on Ghenh Bridge in Bien Hoa Citys Buu Hoa Ward at around 7.35pm.

Deputy director of Dong Nai Police Vo Van Sang said the provincial police decided to take seven people into custody.

They included the driver of the train, the train guard and a group of five guards who worked at the railway guard station on Ghenh Bridge for alleged breaches of their responsibilities. Police have instructed the provincial investigative agency to promptly determine the cause of the accident.

Initial investigations revealed that the barriers at both ends of the bridge were not lowered prior to the accident.

Further investigation was ongoing, Sang said.

The accident killed 20-year-old Tran Ngoc Tuan and his 49-year-old father Tran Ngoc Khai.

The 24 injured people were taken to Dong Nai General Hospital. A doctor at the hospital said two victims with critical injuries were later transferred to Cho Ray Hospital in HCM City.

Some people have speculated that inoperative railroad signs on the bridge could have contributed to the accident. Nguyen Van Luong, the linesman on duty at Ghenh Bridge, was quoted by the Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper as saying that he had warned the passenger train of a traffic jam on Ghenh Bridge when it reached Di An District in Binh Duong, some 5km to the south of the site, but the warning was ignored.

According to Dong Nai Traffic Police, this is the most serious railroad accident ever to occur in Bien Hoa City.

Normal road and railroad traffic resumed Monday morning on the bridge.

(Source: VNS)