A pickup truck has crashed into a traffic police officer and two passers-by, killing them in Long An Province, southern Vietnam after it was asked to stop for a check on suspicion of carrying prohibited goods.

The Long An Department of Public Security said on Friday evening that a major of the traffic police team in Duc Hoa District of the province died in the line of duty.

At 4:50 pm on the same day, Major Nguyen Xuan Hao was patrolling Provincial Road 824 in My Hanh Nam Commune, Duc Hoa District when he suspected a pickup truck running fast and heading to Ho Chi Minh City of transporting prohibited goods.

His patrol team signaled the suspected pickup truck driver to stop for an inspection, but the vehicle was still running and slammed into a police car and several nearby vehicles before flipping over in the middle of the road.

Major Hao, a 40-year-old resident of Loc Giang Commune in Duc Hoa District, was seriously injured and died in the crash.

Two other victims, identified as H.N.C.M., 29, a native of District 5 in Ho Chi Minh City, and P.T.K.T., 50, who resided in District 12 in the city, were pronounced dead at Ho Chi Minh City-based hospitals.

The two were workers at an industrial park in Long An Province, located some 50 kilometers from Ho Chi Minh City. They were on the way back to the city after work when facing the accident.

The driver of the pickup truck was arrested after the crash, while police are investigating the case.

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