Vietnam jails unlicensed ferry driver in fatal sinking

Lo Van Nghiep, 24, pleaded guilty Wednesday and was sentenced for violating the regulations on operating water transport, according to chief judge Pham Van Ha of the People's Court of Nghe An province, 290 kilometres south of Hanoi.

The accident happened in October when Nghiep was transporting students across the Nam Mo River after school.

"The boat was able to carry only 12 people, but Nghiep was carrying 63 people to cross the river without any life jackets on board that day," Ha said.

Nghiep also didn't have a licence to drive the ferry, which was owned by his father.

The court also sentenced Nghiep's father, Lo Quoc Phong, 53, Wednesday to three years in prison for allowing a man without a license to operate his ferry.

//(Deutsche Presse-Agentur)