A bus carrying 20 foreigners and overseas Vietnamese nearly fell into the waters of the Tàu Hủ Canal yesterday afternoon due to a flat tire.

The incident occurred on the Lò Gốm 2 Bridge as it shuttled passengers back from a tour of the Mekong Delta, according to Tuoi Tre.

As the bus crossed the bridge, it suffered a flat tire, sending it into a guard rail that successfully withstood the impact of the vehicle. Had the guardrail folded upon collision, the bus would have fallen into the canal, said witnesses.

“I was sitting near the driver when I heard the loud noises of a collision. At that time I was afraid that the van would fall into the canal below it, but luckily the bridge’s guardrail was solid enough,” said Alan Tran, who was a passenger on the bus.

45 minutes after the accident, the bus company sent another vehicle to transport the group back to their destination in District 4.