34 killed after bus plunges off bridge in Vietnam

An overnight bus carrying 55 passengers and two drivers drove off a bridge into a river in Vietnam after losing control and driving through the bridge’s guardrails last night.

In one of the country’s deadliest road accidents, 30 passengers and the two drivers were killed at the scene while two others died upon arriving at the hospital bringing the death toll to 34.

Out of the remaining 21 injured, 16 were in serious condition after the 50-seat coach dove around 18 metres (60 feet) and landed on its top.

Everyone on the bus was sleeping when the bus overturned according to one survivor from the bus which ended up partially submerged in the Serepok River.

The same survivor said that he managed to escape through a window which had been smashed open by the others and vaguely remembers hearing a noise like gunfire and passengers screaming.

According to officials, rescuers took four hours to pull the bodies from the bus which had been travelling on a standard 350 kilometre (217 mile) route from the province of Dak Lak to the commercial centre of Ho Chi Minh City.

Axes were used to try and free trapped passengers from the vehicle which was lifted out of the river by a crane early this morning.