A 55-year-old woman and a baby were killed and two others injured when three cars of a train going north from Hanoi to Lao Cai Monday derailed in Yen Bai Province after being hit by debris from a landslide.
The locomotive was thrown into a paddy field while the luggage and the power coaches also tumbled off the tracks after being hit by the debris in a remote mountain area just a kilometer before a station.
Khuong Thi Thinh, the deceased woman, and her nine-month-old grandchild Dinh Thu Phuong of Van Yen District, Yen Bai, were reportedly seated at the end of the car next to the luggage car and were thrown out of the train in the collision.
The train driver, Bui Van Them, and his assistant, Vu Duc Phuong, both of Hanoi, were slightly injured. Luckily, none of the other passengers were hurt.
The landslide was reportedly caused by torrential rains in the region.
A specialized crane has been brought to the area to recover the locomotive and two cars.
Another locomotive was dispatched to take the remaining cars with 460 passengers to Yen Bai. Everyone was given free tickets on trains to Hanoi and buses to Lao Cai.
The 300-kilometer Hanoi-Lao Cai route is considered to be the busiest in Vietnam with 10 pairs of passenger trains and 20 cargo trains traveling everyday, and 14-16 passenger trains during national holidays like Tet, the Lunar New Year.
Built in the early 20th century, it has badly deteriorating tracks and outdated signaling systems.
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