At least eight people were killed after a passenger van hit a tractor-trailer at an intersection in Quang Nam Province, central Vietnam early on Tuesday morning.

The accident took place at an intersection in Tam Hiep Commune, Nui Thanh District at around 4:00 am, Pham Viet Tien, head of the district police unit, confirmed later the same morning.

The passenger van was traveling in the direction from Quang Nam to neighboring Da Nang City when it crashed into the tractor-trailer.

Six people in the van were killed on the spot while two other succumbed to their serious injuries in hospital.

The van driver and his assistant were among the deceased.

Another 12 wounded victims are being treated at the hospital, with three suffering very serious injuries, according to the provincial traffic safety committee.

An official from the Quang Nam People’s Committee stated that the 16-seater van was carrying 21 people.

They are residents of central Quang Ngai Province who were heading to central Thua Thien-Hue Province for health check-ups.

The van is a private vehicle and does not belong to any transport company or cooperative, according to preliminary information.

Traffic monitoring data of the Department for Roads of Vietnam showed that the van was traveling at 69km an hour, while the tractor-trailer was running at 30km per hour prior to the crash.

Further investigation is ongoing.

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