Prosecution of the case of the driver who hit and killed 8 people on Highway 5

On the evening of January 22, the Investigation Police Agency of Kim Thanh District (Hai Duong) initiated a case and detained driver Luong Van Tam (27 years old, from Cao Bang) to investigate the act of violating traffic regulations causing particularly serious consequences.

A day before, driver Tam was driving a truck on Highway 5 from Hanoi to Hai Phong, when he reached Kim Luong commune (Kim Thanh, Hai Duong), he crashed into a group of commune officials returning from a visit to a martyrs cemetery. As a result, 8 people died and 8 others were injured, one of them seriously.

Tam told the police that he had used crystal meth a few days ago. While driving from Hanoi to Hai Phong to deliver the goods, he occasionally fell asleep and was not clear-headed. Tam and the bus assistant agreed to switch drivers after passing the Luong Xa overpass. However, a few dozen meters after passing the overpass, before they could switch drivers, an accident occurred. The three people in the car were partly scared and partly worried about being assaulted by the people, so they quickly left the scene. All three of them hid until evening, when they turned themselves in to the police.

After the accident, Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The acknowledged the absurdity of "pedestrians entering the rough lane to get on the overpass, which is extremely dangerous". He requested the authorities to review all the roads leading to the overpass across the country; at the same time, tighten the checking of driver's licenses and the use of alcohol, drugs, etc. by drivers...