Two South Africans were traveling from Hanoi to Hai Phong City when the accident occurred on Saturday.
Their motorbike hit the back of another vehicle, and one of the men was then run over by a container truck.
Vietnam Insider identified the dead man as South African citizen Benjamin Jooste.
The local publication reported that family friend Bertus le Roux confirmed the death and that Jooste’s father and brother will travel to Vietnam to make arrangements for cremation.
Local media said that the second man was hospitalized and that both men taught at an English language centre in Hanoi, Vietnam
On Facebook, Jooste’s brother Simeon posted: “Goodbye bro bear. I love you.”
Both Vietnamese publications said that alarm has been raised by the increasing number of foreigners dying in highway accidents in the country.
According to the World Health Organization, 14 000 people die each year on Vietnam roads, and 59% of them are motorcyclists. The organization says that the majority of the deaths are people between 15 and 49 years old.