Vietnamese tourist killed in Australian bus accident

A Vietnamese man died when the bus he was travelling in toppled to one side Sunday during a tour in Australia, injuring 23 people.

The dead person has only been identified as a man in his mid-forties. He was reported as having not fastened his seat belt, so thrown out of the bus and crushed by the bus to death, Ryan Reynolds, reporter of the Australian newspaper Geelong Advertiser, told Thanh Nien.

Two other Vietnamese were critically injured and taken to Melbourne by helicopter. Others were sent by bus to nearby hospitals.

The bus was carrying 27 people, most of them tourists from Vietnam, China and Hong Kong, when it skidded and toppled to one side at around 2:30 p.m. local time, ending up on the sidewalk of Tomahawk Creek in Irrewillipe city, 160 kilometers from Melbourne. It was raining hard at the time, the police said.

Local sergeant Shane Howard said it had been raining unceasingly for the past four or five days, making the sidewalk slippery and muddy, Geelong Advertiser reported.

Investigators have surmised that the driver had lost control as the street was slippery due to wet weather.

There're no signs that any other vehicles have been involved in the accident.

The name of the tour operator has not been released.

The accident is being investigated further and Vietnam Embassy in Sydney is identifying the victims.