Bus explosion injures 11 in Laos: Driver sentenced to 5 years in prison
(Baonghean.vn) - Driver Nguyen Duc Tu, who drove a passenger bus from Laos to Nghe An that exploded, killing 8 people and injuring 3 others, has just been sentenced to 5 years in prison by the People's Court of Khammouane Province (Laos).
The People's Court of Khammouane Province (Laos) has just opened a trial for driver Nguyen Duc Tu (born in 1990, residing in Nghi Dien Commune, Nghi Loc District, Nghe An Province). Driver Tu was prosecuted for the crimes of "Manufacturing and trading in explosive fireworks"; "Causing the death of many people" and "Deforestation in large quantities" under Articles 76, 89 and 139 of the Penal Code of the Lao PDR.
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| Relatives of the victim work with lawyer Trong Hai to demand justice. Photo: Phuong Thao. |
At the end of the trial, the People’s Court of Khammouane Province sentenced Nguyen Duc Tu to 2 years in prison for “Manufacturing and trading fireworks”; 2 years in prison for “Causing multiple deaths” and 1 year in prison for “Deforestation in large quantities”. The total sentence for all 3 crimes is 5 years in prison.
In addition, driver Tu must compensate the 8 dead passengers, each 35 million kip (equivalent to 94 million VND); each injured person 5 million kip (equivalent to 12 million VND).
After the Khammouane Provincial Court sentenced driver Nguyen Duc Tu to 5 years in prison, representatives of the victims' families filed an appeal to the Supreme People's Court of the Lao PDR. In the appeal, the legal representatives of the victims requested an increase in the sentence according to Lao law and an increase in compensation for each deceased person to 300 million VND and for the injured person to 250 million VND.
Mr. Vo Dinh Hiep (28 years old), residing in Nghi Lam commune, Nghi Loc district - one of the 3 lucky survivors of the accident expressed his indignation: "The sentence that the court handed down was too light. After the accident, our family of 11 became devastated both mentally and physically. Although I myself was lucky to survive, the medical bills amounted to hundreds of millions of dong, and my health has not yet recovered. Meanwhile, the owner of the bus company had an indifferent and ill-willed attitude."
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| Most of the empty space on Khanh Don passenger bus is used to store wood and fireworks. Photo: Document. |
Dr. Lawyer Nguyen Trong Hai - Head of Trong Hai Law Office and Associates, who protects the legal rights and interests of the victims who died and were injured in the bus explosion, also commented: “The nature of the case is particularly serious, but the sentence imposed by the Lao prosecution agency is too light. During a year of defending the rights of the victims, I personally feel that the investigation and trial process did not fully consider the evidence, so the sentence imposed was not satisfactory.”
Lawyer Trong Hai also said that the Office has completed legal procedures for relatives of the victims of the bus explosion in Laos to appeal the verdict of the People's Court of Khammouane Province (Lao PDR) to the Supreme People's Court of Laos.
At around 4am on June 2, 2016, a 35-seat passenger bus of Khanh Don bus company running from Tha Khet (Laos) to Nghi Loc district (Nghe An) suddenly exploded about 10km from Cha Lo international border gate (Quang Binh). The explosion killed 8 people on the bus on the spot, and injured 3 others. All the victims were Nghe An people working in Laos, on their way home. Nguyen Duc Tu was the driver and owner of the bus. The investigation determined that at the time of the explosion, the bus contained 3 bags of fireworks (6,000 pieces) along with 6.66 cubic meters of lath-shaped clove wood, 23 purlins (2.19 cubic meters) and 510 rosewood bars (253 kg). Tu confessed that all of the fireworks and wood were purchased from many Lao people, intending to transport them to Vietnam to sell for profit. |
Phuong Thao
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