Grief Over O.C. Crash Victims

In recent weeks, Duc Minh Tran had talked to friends about asking his girlfriend to marry him.

His dreams ended this week on an Arizona desert highway when a rented van driven by the Costa Mesa computer programmer veered out of control. The crash early Monday morning killed five passengers--including Tran’s 24-year-old girlfriend--who were returning from a Catholic pilgrimage in Missouri.

Tran, 26, was hospitalized with a fractured knee while Arizona authorities prepared to return the body of his girlfriend, Thanh Tu Huynh, to Orange County for burial.

“He loves her so much,” said Hien Thanh Tran, a friend of the couple. “He can’t stop crying.”

On Tuesday, friends and relatives of the five Vietnamese Americans killed in Monday’s crash gathered to pray for those who died and the six other passengers who were injured but survived.

They tried to make sense out of the tragedy, which authorities say could have been less devastating had all the passengers worn seat belts.

Only Tran, the driver, and his front-seat passenger were wearing seat belts. Though they were seated in the most seriously damaged part of the van, neither suffered life-threatening injuries, said Arizona Highway Patrol Officer Stephen Doniban, who is investigating the accident.

“The van was crushed on all sides, but the integrity of it was there,” Doniban said. “If everybody had been wearing seat belts, there wouldn’t have been as many deaths.”

Relatives of those who died said that the group had stopped at a rest area about 10 minutes before the accident and perhaps the passengers hadn’t yet put on their seat belts.

Minh Pham, whose 23-year-old brother, Danh Pham, died in the crash, said his younger brother is usually careful about wearing seat belts and encouraged others to do so.

“But this time, he must not have worn a seat belt because he was thrown out of the car,” said Minh Pham, 48, of Westminster. “We still can’t believe what happened actually happened. It has been hard for all of us to accept.”

Danh Pham was part of a four-vehicle caravan of 60 Orange County residents attending the 18th Marian Days celebration in Carthage, Mo., which this year attracted about 70,000 people, mostly Vietnamese Americans, from throughout the United States, according to officials at Orange County’s Vietnamese Catholic Center.

The 11 people involved in the accident had left Orange County Aug. 5 and had been scheduled to arrive home late Monday. But about 3:30 a.m. Monday, their van veered off Interstate 40 west of Flagstaff and rolled over three times, ejecting seven passengers.

In addition to Danh Pham of Westminster, and Huynh of Costa Mesa, three others died. They were identified as Tru Van Tran, 54, and Chinh Quang Vu, 28, both of Westminster, and Trinh Thi Nguyen, 54, of Garden Grove.

Another passenger, Toan Pham, 24, of Westminster was airlifted to Flagstaff Medical Center, where he was treated for a bruised lung and other injuries. He was in fair condition Tuesday.

The driver and two other passengers with less serious injuries also were listed in fair condition. Two others treated for minor injuries at the same hospital were released, a hospital spokeswoman said.

Duc Tran, the driver, was not cited and the investigation is continuing. Investigators said they did not know how fast the van was traveling.

The group included choir members and volunteers from four Orange County Roman Catholic churches who were trying to raise money for social programs that benefit such groups as camp refugees and Vietnamese orphans, said Thu Dao, 55, who traveled with the church group in another van.

“We had passed by the scene of the accident and we saw the van,” he said. “It was turned upside down and the hood was crushed. We wanted to stop but there were so many policemen and they all waved us on. So we called the other [vans] on the cellular phone and we all prayed. We’re all still shaken by it.

“They were doing God’s work.”

In an interview with Little Saigon Radio on Monday, Duc Tran said that he encountered heavy winds and lost control of the van. He said he was wide awake when the accident occurred because he had rested earlier. Duc Tran stopped talking many times during the interview to hold back tears, which at times turned into sobs.

National Weather Services officials and Arizona police said the weather was not a factor in the crash. Doniban, the investigating officer, said the driver probably fell asleep at the wheel.

Duc Tran and his girlfriend, Huynh, an accounting student at Cal State Fullerton who was in her senior year, met several years ago and were planning to be engaged when she graduated next year, friends said.

“They’re good people,” Hien Tran said. “They’re involved in many church activities.”

Relatives describe the five victims as devout churchgoers. Trinh Nguyen was a treasurer for the Vietnamese Catholic Center and had planned to return to Vietnam later this year to do social work.

Her 27-year-old son, Tony Bui, said his mother spent most of her time at the center or at her church, St. Polycarp Catholic Church in Stanton.

“She helped out a lot of people and touched many lives,” he said. “Many people have called us to express their condolences.”

Tru Tran was active at St. Barbara’s Catholic Church in Santa Ana, where hundreds of people prayed for him Tuesday afternoon during a weekly Mass.

Chung Thi Nguyen, his wife, said she and her eight children had tried to prevent him from taking the trip because of health reasons. Initially, he agreed to stay home.

“But the day before the trip, [Trinh Nguyen] called and asked him to help her out,” his wife said, “and he agreed. He was always willing to do anything for the church.”

Like many other family members, Chung Nguyen said she learned of her husband’s death through Little Saigon Radio when one of the victim’s nephews went on the air pleading for relatives of the crash victims to call him. Duc Tran also spoke on the air before he even got a chance to call his own parents, saying that he needed to inform relatives of the other victims as soon as possible.

“I am very sorry,” the driver said in the interview.

Among those who died was Chinh Vu, a 28-year-old man who spent years in hiding and sleeping in a makeshift tent in rural Vietnam because the Communist government had an arrest warrant for him, said Hien Van Vu, his father.

Chinh Vu was only 6 or 7 years old when his father went to a re-education camp for serving in the South Vietnamese army. Because of his father’s position, he was not allowed to attend college and was scheduled to be sent away to do hard labor in the countryside. Chinh Vu refused and became a fugitive, his father said.

In August, 1991, he left Vietnam and resolved to start a new life in Orange County. Chinh Vu learned English, got a job and sang in the church choir.

“As if by some sort of intuition, I had gotten up right around the time of the accident,” his father said. “Then I couldn’t go back to sleep, so I went to church. That morning, a girl whom I knew came to the church to tell me.

“I already knew. He was a very good son. I never had to say one harsh word to him.”

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Danh Pham, WESTMINSTER: Computer programmer working at an Irvine company. Sang in his church choir.

Tru Van Tran, WESTMINSTER: Active in his Santa Ana church. Called family the day before the crash and said he was having a good time and told them not to worry.

Chinh Vu, WESTMINSTER: Enjoyed playing the violin and piano and sang in church choir. Came to Orange County in 1991.

Trinh Nguyen, GARDEN GROVE: Served as treasurer for Vietnamese Catholic Center and had helped organize trip to Missouri. Planned return to Vietnam this year to do social work.

Thanh Tu Huynh, COSTA MESA: Accounting major at Cal State Fullerton who planned to graduate next year. She and her boyfriend, the driver of the van, had talked about becoming engaged.