QUẢNG NGÃI — National Traffic Safety Committee vice chairman Khuất Việt Hùng has ordered prosecution of the coach driver responsible for the accident that killed four people and seriously injured five others in the central province of Quảng Ngãi yesterday.

At around 8am yesterday, on a section of the National Highway in Tịnh Phong Commune, 8km south of Quảng Ngãi City, a 16-seater coach with a Đà Nẵng number plate, travelling north to south, reportedly rammed into a truck carrying wood travelling in the same direction and a truck carrying soil on the opposite side of the road.

Three people were killed on the spot while one person died in hospital.

Initial investigation by the provincial traffic safety committee revealed speeding by the coach driver and encroachments onto the road led to the accident.

The families of the injured and the deceased were given VNĐ2 million (US$89) and VNĐ5 million ($223) each respectively.

Hùng appreciated the efforts of the local authorities in dealing with the accident aftermath and emphasised all efforts must be focused on the treatment of the injured.

Hùng also said he would direct relevant localities to support Quảng Ngãi Province in determining if the coach reportedly managed by the operator Sơn Lâm was being operated legally.

The Transport Department of Đà Nẵng City has been tasked with inspecting Sơn Lâm bus operator, who owned several vehicles but was unable to manage them effectively, Hùng said.

At the working session with the National Traffic Safety Committee vice chairman yesterday, Lê Quang Thích, vice chairman of the People’s Committee of Quảng Ngãi Province, also proposed to the committee the expansion of a narrow road from Tịnh Phong Commune of Quảng Ngãi City to central Quảng Nam Province, the stretch where accidents usually occur. — VNS