On the morning of February 8, authorities in Song Cau town, Phu Yen province, announced they have directed the local Police Investigation Agency to examine the scene, conduct rapid drug and alcohol tests on the driver of the Tan Kim Chi passenger bus, and investigate the cause of a particularly severe traffic accident in the area that led to three fatalities.
Video: Passenger bus crashes into median barrier, resulting in three deaths (Video: Tran Minh).
According to footage extracted by authorities, at 1 AM on February 8, a 54-seat Tan Kim Chi passenger bus traveling southbound on National Highway 1 in Xuan Thinh commune, Song Cau town, lost control. It swerved rapidly from the innermost lane to the middle of the road, then violently struck the median barrier and overturned.
The accident resulted in three fatalities and 10 injuries. The passenger bus sustained severe damage.
Footage indicates that National Highway 1 was sparsely populated at the time, and the road surface was wet. The bus’s forceful impact dislodged a concrete block from the median barrier, which then landed on the highway, obstructing the southbound lane.
Mr. Thien, a passenger, recounted that he, his wife, and their three-year-old daughter were traveling by bus from Quang Ngai to Lam Dong for work after the Tet holiday. At the time of the accident, Mr. Thien was holding his daughter on a lower bunk, while his wife was on an upper bunk.
In the early hours of February 8, Mr. Thien heard the bus violently shake before it suddenly overturned.
‘I heard a loud crash from the impact, and some people from the upper bunks fell onto me,’ Mr. Thien stated.
The accident also flung Mr. Thien’s wife from her bunk, causing her to strike the vehicle’s window, resulting in her death.
Damaged passenger bus being towed away from an accident scene on a wet road, with debris scattered nearby.The crashed passenger bus being lifted from the scene (Photo: Tran Minh).
Mr. Nguyen Tan Chan, Deputy Director of the Phu Yen Provincial Department of Transport, stated that approximately 35 people, including several children, were on board the passenger bus at the time of the accident. The injured victims have been transferred to Binh Dinh Provincial General Hospital for treatment.
Upon receiving the report, emergency responders and traffic police were dispatched to the scene to provide first aid to victims and manage traffic flow.
By 5:30 AM that same day, the wrecked passenger bus had been removed from the accident scene.
