2 Pct of Vietnamese Train Staff Abuse Drugs

2 pct of Vietnamese train staff abuse drugs

HANOI, Oct. 17 (Xinhua) — Over 300 people or nearly 2 percent of the people directly responsible for trains’ operation, including drivers and conductors, have been found to use drug at least once, local newspaper Pioneer reported Monday.

Recent inspections by Vietnam’s railway sector show that many railway units nationwide have drug abusers. Most of them are in northern Thanh Hoa province.

Last month, Vietnam reported 148 railway accidents, of which 66 were caused by subjective reasons. The accidents killed 15 people and injured 39 others.

Some 18,000 people are in charge of running trains. Most of them are trains’ chiefs, drivers, broadcasters, conductors, stewards and electricians.

The Vietnam Railway Corporation served over 10.1 million domestic and foreign passengers, and nearly 6.5 million tons of cargoes in the first nine months this year, registering year-on- year rises of 3.2 percent and 3 percent respectively, according to the General Statistics Office.