Aid workers killed on their way to help typhoon victims

Eleven Vietnamese aid workers and their driver were killed when their van collided with a bus today as they went to help victims of a typhoon.

The 12 people were killed instantly in the accident in Khanh Hoa province, some 280 miles northeast of Ho Chi Minh City.

One aid worker survived the collision and remained in hospital with serious injuries. The bus driver and his assistant were slightly injured.

An initial investigation indicated that the van might have been speeding as it went round a curve at the time of the accident, police said.

The aid workers, from Ho Chi Minh City, were on their way to the central port city of Danang, where 26 people were killed by Typhoon Xangsane earlier this month.

The typhoon also killed another 43 people in other central provinces.

More than 11,000 people are killed in traffic accidents each year in Vietnam, many involving motorbikes.