The late chief of the Vietnam Railway Authority (VRA), Nguyen Huu Thang, who was found hanging dead in his office in Hanoi on Thursday, could have committed suicide by hanging himself, police said on Friday.

>> Vietnam railway authority chief found dead at work The assumption was made based on the results of an autopsy and the examination of the scene where Thanh’s body was found.  During the autopsy performed on Friday at the Central Military Hospital 108 in Hanoi, where the body had been moved to from his office, doctors detected marks likely caused by strangling left on Thang’s neck. Meanwhile, when examining Thang’s office on Thursday, police officers found a white plastic-coated copper wire in his room. However, the Ministry of Transport, which governs the VRA, has yet to confirm this assumption. Speaking to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper on Friday afternoon, Nguyen Hong Truong, Deputy Minister of Transport, the spokesperson of Transport Minister Dinh La Thang, said the ministry has yet to receive official information about the cause of Thang’s death. Truong gave no confirmation of the information saying Thang had killed himself by hanging. According to an official notice issued by the ministry on Friday, Thang’s death was discovered by a sanitation worker who came into his office for work at 7:00 pm on January 22. After receiving a report about his death, high-ranking officials of the ministry and the VRA immediately came to the scene and called police and his family, the report said.  Immediately before his death, Thang had shown no abnormal signs, the ministry said in the report.

On Thursday morning, Thang attended a meeting held by the ministry on calling for private businesses to invest in railway projects, and he delivered to the meeting a report, which was highly valued by Transport Minister Thang, the report said.

Later that morning, the VRA leader chaired a meeting to review the agency’s performance in 2014 and discuss plans for 2015. On the afternoon of the same day, Thang attended a meeting of the steering board for the re-organization of the Vietnam Railways Corporation, which is the state-owned operator of the railway system in Vietnam, but he voiced no opinions during the event.

After the meeting, the chief worked normally in his office until he was found dead, the ministry said. On April 25, 2014, Minister Thang suspended Thang from his post for 15 days for his "irresponsible statements" to local media about a rise of US$339 million in construction costs for the Cat Linh – Ha Dong urban railway project in the Vietnamese capital.

The project broke ground in 2011 with an approved investment capital of $552 million, and was planned to be completed in June 2015.

However, the project has fallen behind schedule due to poor management and problems in land clearance. As a result, the cost has risen from $552 million to $891 million.

Speaking to the media about this issue, the VRA chief said, “I have done my best. Look at other projects such as railway line No. 3 connecting Nhon and the Hanoi Railway Station. It has broken ground two times, but it has yet to make any progress so far. We have done much and received no praise, but when we just made a bit of adjustment, people are making a fuss about it.”

It was due to this statement that Thang was given the 15-day suspension.

Minister Thang also demanded the VRA head review his personal responsibility related to the tardy project.

In May 2014, the minister leveled strong criticism at the VRA leader following his "irresponsible statements." Thang, born on May 1, 1955 in the central province of Quang Nam, was appointed head of the VRA in June 2010. After his death, the transport ministry on Friday assigned Nguyen Van Doanh, deputy head of the VRA, to temporarily manage and operate the agency.

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