THỪA THIÊN- HUẾ — North-South railway traffic resumed this morning after an almost 21-hour halt following an accident that occurred in central Thừa Thiên-Huế Province.

Train SE2 travelling from HCM City to Hà Nội late yesterday afternoon collided with a truck that was attempting to go across the railway track in the province’s Phú Lộc District. The collision killed three, including two travelling on the truck and the train’s deputy manager, and injured four others.

Eleven cars of the train derailed, with some falling on the railway line and blocking traffic. Some 1,000 passengers on other trains were transported at night by road to the Huế and Đà Nẵng railway stations to continue their journey to Hà Nội and HCM City, respectively.

Trần Hoán, a railway manager at the Bình Trị Thiên railway management unit, said his taskforce team had worked hard continuously for almost 20 hours and succeeded in removing the train’s locomotive and five cars from the railway track.

Swift repair on 100m of damaged rail facilitated safe travel of the train, SE1, which travels from north to south and goes through Thừa Thiên-Huế according to the morning schedule.

The national traffic safety committee and local authorities this morning, meanwhile, paid condolence visits to the victims’ families, including two local families, while family members of the train’s deputy manager travelled from Hà Nội to Huế to collect his body.

According to the investigation, the truck was crossing the railway track, despite signals that a train was approaching.

Clean-up and repair work continues at the accident site. The Ministry of Transport has ordered a thorough investigation of roadway and railway intersections in the province following the accident. — VNS