Rail mishaps prompt call for action
Deputy Prime Minister Trương Hòa Bình on Saturday ordered urgent measures to increase safety at railway crossings. His order came in the wake of a sharp spike in the number and scale of railway accidents during the Tết (Lunar New Year) holiday. Deputy PM Bình, who also heads the National Traffic Safety Committee, sent a message to the Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Public Security, chairpersons of People’s Committees and heads of traffic safety departments in provinces and cities that the railway runs through. The message followed two severe railway accidents on Saturday. At 3.20pm on Saturday, train TN1 running in the North-South direction through Vụ Bản District, Nam Định Province crashed into a 16-seat car at a crossing, killing the car’s driver on the spot and injuring five, two of them seriously and the rest three were released from hospitals on Sunday.
