Major General Pham Minh Thang, deputy commander of Military Zone 9, has passed away in a motorbike accident, a senior military official said on Saturday.

Lieutenant General Vo Van Tuan, deputy chief of the General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, said Major General Thang, 55, died in the accident earlier that day after being hit by a trailer truck in the Mekong Delta province of Hau Giang.

According to police officers in Chau Thanh A District, Hau Giang, the truck driven by Ha Van Giang, 25, collided with the motorbike on which Major General Thang was carried when traveling on National Highway 61 in the district.

Shortly after the collision, Major General Thang was rushed to Military Hospital 121 in Can Tho City, which is Hau Giang’s neighbor, but he could not make it there.

The military official’s body was carried home in Chau Thanh A District in the evening.

The death of Major General Thang is a great loss to Military Zone 9 and the Vietnamese military, Lieutenant General Tuan said.

Also on Saturday evening, the criminal investigation agency under Military Zone 9 and Can Tho police began looking further into the accident.

Being among seven military regions in Vietnam, Military Zone 9 is tasked with protecting 13 cities and provinces in the Mekong Delta.

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