On 20/8, the District 2 People's Court of Ho Chi Minh City was scheduled to announce the verdict for Dung (35 years old, from Kien Giang) on the charge of violating road traffic regulations. However, the trial was postponed to 27/8 because the judging panel needed to reconfirm the defendant’s background information.
Previously, the District 2 People's Procuracy had proposed a sentence of 9 years and 6 months to 10 years imprisonment for Dung.
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Trinh Tien Dung recounts the incident after causing the accident in August 2024. Photo: Dinh Van |
According to the indictment, on the afternoon of 8/8/2024, Dung was driving a truck carrying over 22 tons of lobster feed from District 7 to Thu Duc City. As he descended halfway down the bridge, Dung applied the brakes to reduce speed and discovered an air pipe in the brake chamber had burst, causing the truck to lose control and speed down the slope.
The truck subsequently crashed into seven other vehicles traveling in the same direction. The collision caused a sanitation worker on the bridge to be thrown from his vehicle, resulting in minor injuries. Two cars caught fire and were completely destroyed; three other cars and two tractor-trailers were severely damaged. The total damage amounted to over 7.4 billion VND.
The chaotic accident scene stretched nearly 100 meters. Several victims trapped in their vehicles were rescued by Mai Le Duy Quang, Truong Van Thanh, Phan Van Tai, Vu Thanh Tung, and Lee Geumho (a South Korean national).
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Three cars were burned in the accident. Photo: Dinh Van |
Authorities determined that the truck driven by Dung, carrying over 22 tons of goods, exceeded the permitted load of 14.4 tons by 7.7 tons. The cargo exceeded the total permitted weight for the bridge and road by 31.7%, the axle load by 52.6%, and the permitted cargo weight by 52.8%.
"Because the vehicle did not meet technical safety standards for road travel and was overloaded, resulting in brake system failure, the truck driven by Dung caused a chain reaction collision with seven other vehicles traveling in front of it in the same direction," the indictment stated.
Hai Duyen
