Five people in a crowd of passers-by who stopped to watch the scene of a traffic accident in the northern Vietnamese province of Hai Duong on Tuesday were killed as a truck overturned onto them.

Both accidents took place on the section of National Highway 5 in Cong Hoa Commune, Kim Thanh District, the commune chairman Dao Quang Thanh confirmed to Tuoi Tre (Youth) newspaper.

A local resident named Dao Quang Huan was first hit by a passenger bus on the section when he was heading home after a morning walk at around 4:30 am.

It is not uncommon to see onlookers surrounding a traffic accident site just for watching in Vietnam and the case involving Huan was no exception.

Many curious passers-by were standing along the road to witness the accident.

At around 6:00 am, when some onlookers were still at the scene, a truck was traveling toward the location and out of a sudden it turned on its side and fell onto the crowd.

The truck driver appeared to have lost control over the truck as he tried to dodge another vehicle.

Five bystanders lost their lives in the second crash, according to the province’s traffic police unit.

The five victims were later identified as Dao Quang Thuan, 58, Truong Minh Khang, 45, Nguyen Quoc Hoang, 17, Hoang Thi Em, 34, and Nguyen Van Hieu, 30.

The truck driver was badly injured and has been admitted to the hospital.

The truck was on its side following the crash, while the incident has resulted in severe congestion along the route.

Minister of Transport Nguyen Van The and Deputy Head of the National Committee for Traffic Safety Khuat Viet Hung have arrived at the scene to deal with the case.

Data from the black box showed that the truck was running at 65km per hour prior to the crash.

Further investigation is ongoing.

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