2 Americans Killed Cycling in Vietnam
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Tue February 05 2002
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Posted Feb 4, 2002
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HANOI, Vietnam- Two American tourists have been killed while bicycling this month in Vietnam, where traffic accidents are up sharply in recent years, officials said Tuesday.
Jean Woodhead Yokes, 65, was hit by a truck on Jan. 19 while on a bicycling tour with 12 other women, and an American man died after a motorbike hit the tandem bicycle he was riding with his wife on Jan. 16.
The man's name was not released. His wife was also injured when their bicycle was hit head-on by a motorbike on a road from Dalat to the coastal town of Phan Rang, police in central Ninh Thuan province said.
Yokes was killed while riding from Danang to the ancient town of Hoi An on a tour organized by Trails of Indochina, a tour company official said.
Witnesses said it appeared Yokes fell off her bike and was hit by the truck, which dragged her more than 100 feet, said Danang City spokesman Le Thi Thu Hanh.
Yokes was cremated, and the other women on the tour spread her ashes in Vietnam in accordance with her will, the tour company official said.
Authorities did not give her hometown.
More than 10,000 people were killed last year in traffic accidents in Vietnam, a record number. Officials blame poor observance of laws and the sharp increase in the number of motorbikes.
The U.S. Consulate in Ho Chi Minh City said there are plans to revise the State Department travel advisory to warn visitors about traffic problems in Vietnam.