A Vietnamese traffic policeman who was driving a luxury BMW car early Saturday morning crashed into a local patrol squad in southern Vietnam’s Ba Ria- Vung Tau Province. The accident killed two squad members and injured seven others.
According to the provincial police department and Tuoi Tre (Youth) sources, around 1am on Saturday, the black BMW 750L allegedly driven by Senior Lieutenant Pham Hong Tuan- a traffic policeman of the province’s Chau Duc District- smashed hard into a local patrol squad on duty.
The squad, of around a dozen militiamen, was standing on the sidewalk of My Xuan- Ngai Giao roads in Chau Duc District, preparing for the patrol.
Nhiu A Sy, one of the members who was fortunate enough to escape the crash unharmed, recalled he was joining the group when he heard loud noises.
He stepped aside, trying to figure out where the noise came from when without warning, the speeding car bumped into the squad members, tossing them around dozens of meters away from where they were standing.
The crash killed Ho Xuan Thu, 54, and Vo Xuan Dong, 39, and injured seven others. One of them remains in critical condition.
According to Colonel Nguyen Van Thuong, vice director of the provincial police department, a source said the car was driven by Tuan’s wife at the time of the crash.
However, Tuoi Tre source said Tuan was the man behind the wheel then.
Witnesses also confirmed there was no woman at the accident scene.
Sy- the survivor- recounted following the accident, a half-naked, heavily-built man stepped out of the wrecked car and helped others carrying the injured to hospital.
He observed the man showed no signs of drunkenness and acted quite calmly.
Another source said Tuan’s wife gave birth some months ago.
Fake license?
According to the preliminary information provided by the Vietnam Registration Agency and Hanoi police department’s PC67, the car Tuan was driving bore the license plate which had been granted to a four-seat Toyota- Camry LE, owned by Tran Thi Lien- a Hanoi resident.
At Lien’s home, Nguyen Anh Chien, Lien’s eldest son, confirmed with Tuoi Tre that Lien and his family do not own the car with the mentioned license plate.
He added his mother used to own a Toyota Camry LE car with another license plate, which was used by Nam- Lien’s youngest son.
Still, Chien and Nam both confirmed they had sold the car to an automobile salon in Hanoi over three years ago.
Representatives of the Hanoi Police Department’s PC67 told Tuoi Tre that there might be some mistake in information processing or confusion due to multiple ownership transfers.
The BMW car Tuan was driving at the time of the crash bears Hanoi’s license plate of 29A- 410.86.
A brand new BMW 750L of the latest edition costs nearly VND5.7 billion (US$268,286.) in Vietnam.