The accident took place on a Highway 1 section in the central province amidst heavy rain.
The truck was reversing when the van, carrying 12 monks of Vietnam Buddhist Sangha to Quang Ngai Province, collided with it. The collision crushed the entire front part of the van and the truck was pushed into a rice field on the side in Binh Dinh Province.
The van’s driver and a monk died on the spot, while another monk was pronounced dead at the hospital. The remaining victims are undergoing treatment in the hospital’s emergency ward. VNExpress reports.
Doctor Le Thi Thu Ha at the emergency department of Quang Ngai General Hospital, said eight monks have suffered from multiple injuries while the remaining victims in the van and those in the truck have broken legs and arms as well as lung and liver injuries.
Nun Binh Yen, who was part of the group but traveling in a different van, said they were going to a ceremony at a temple in Son Tinh District, Quang Ngai Province. “We split into two cars, the monks went in the 16-seat van, the three of us nuns were in a smaller car driving behind them and saw the accident. We are all shocked.”
Mo Duc District authorities in Binh Dinh Province said they were in the process of identifying the victims.
Vietnam’s National Traffic Safety Committee reported that in the first 10 months of this year, 14,251 road traffic accidents recorded, around 6,300 killed and injured 10,900 people. Of the sum, Ho Chi Minh City saw 2,600 cases with 531 deaths.
According to a report on DTINews, response activities are planned across the country. The National Traffic Safety Committee in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Training and other relevant units will organize communication activities, such as taking a minute’s silence and reading the messages to commemorate traffic accident victims at the flag-saluting ceremony in schools, as well as visiting and encouraging victims’ families and organizing requiems.
Since 2005, the United Nations have selected the third Sunday of November every year as the World Day of Remembrance for Victims of Road Traffic Accidents and Vietnam has observed the event since 2012.