Vehicles stranded on HCMC expressway after car crash pile-up

At around 9 a.m., four seven-seat cars and a four-seat car were driving northwards on the highway. As they went past a toll booth in Thu Duc City, one seven-seat car in the front suddenly slowed, causing a chain of collisions with three other cars from behind.

While there were no casualties, several cars were damaged and a traffic jam ensued over a 5-km section of the highway, stopping thousands of vehicles on their tracks.

Traffic police officers were dispatched to clear the congestion. The damaged cars were taken away at around 10 a.m. Police said the cars involved did not keep appropriate distances from each other.

The HCMC-Long Thanh-Dau Giay expressway, spanning 55 km, began operation in 2015 to connect Ho Chi Minh City with the instrustrial neighbors Dong Nai and Ba Ria-Vung Tau, the latter also home to a tourist beach town. It has four lanes, with up to 43,000 vehicles running on it during the weekends on average.

In 2020, the expressway was proposed to have a 24-km section expanded, with an initial budget of VND10 trillion ($425.67 million), before rising to VND14.7 trillion.