VIENTIANE, Jan. 13(Xinhua) -- One Lao and one French passenger died while 30 others sustained injuries when a bus collided with the rear end of a 12-wheeler truck and overturned in Yordhuay village, Nonghet district in Lao northern Xieng Khuang province on Wednesday morning.
Head of the Nonghet Traffic Police Office Keolakhone Manila, said on Lao state-run Vientiane Times on Thursday that the bus driver was Vietnamese. The driver and 31 passengers were travelling from Vietnam to Xieng Khuang province when the bus overturned after running into the back of the truck.
Those on bus included four French nationals, five South Koreans, one Australian, one Thai, six Vietnamese (including the driver) and 15 Lao nationals.
A Xieng Khuang province resident and a French passenger were killed instantly. Three passengers sustained critical injuries and the rest suffered minor injuries. Police are investigating the crash, reported Vientiane Times.
According to the Traffic Police Department of the Ministry of Public Security, there were 5,616 road accidents across Laos in 2016, causing the deaths of 1,086 people, while 8,912 were injured. As many as 10,305 vehicles were damaged with property damage estimated at over 83 billion kip (nearly 10.2 million U.S. dollars).
The main causes of road accidents in 2016 were listed as intoxication, reckless driving and general violation of the traffic rules.
Laos has a high rate of road accidents compared to other countries in the region with motorbikes involved in 95 percent of all vehicular accidents and males making up 90 percent of the fatalities, said the traffic police department.
About 90 percent of accidents involve drunk driving, over-speeding and other violations of the traffic rules. Many accidents occur on weekends and special occasions when people get together to drink alcohol. Enditem