According to German media reports, around 2:30 a.m. on July 6, a 23-year-old driver swerved into the bike lane on Mainzer Landstraße in the Gallus district and collided with three people riding electric scooters.

The victims were Nguyen Duy Quang and Nguyen Quang Minh, both 23, who were enrolled in dental assistant training at a clinic in Altona, Hamburg. The two brothers were riding the same scooter, and one died at the scene, while the other succumbed to his injuries at the hospital. Police reported that the driver dragged a 27-year-old Vietnamese friend of the victims approximately 150 meters, leaving him severely injured.

Quang’s 24-year-old girlfriend, who was riding behind them, was unharmed but left in a state of shock.

The brothers, originally from Ho Chi Minh City, had been living in Hamburg for two years. Along with Quang’s girlfriend and their Vietnamese friend from Berlin, they had traveled to Frankfurt to attend a concert by American rapper Kendrick Lamar.

The driver initially fled the scene but later turned himself in to the police. He now faces charges of manslaughter, attempted murder, causing grievous bodily harm, and leaving the scene of the accident.

In response to the tragedy, the clinic where the twin brothers were training has launched a fundraising campaign on GoFundMe to assist with repatriating their bodies and organizing their funeral in Vietnam. By Tuesday evening, nearly US$138,000 had been raised.

Dr. Christina Essers, the clinic’s owner, recalled: “I still vividly remember when they submitted their applications to us.”

She described the brothers as polite, idealistic, and full of hope. They had prepared meticulously for their journey, spoke fluent German, and expressed a strong desire to live and work in Hamburg to provide a better future for their family in Vietnam, according to her.

“Minh and Quang contributed so much to us,” she said. “Now, we want to give back to them, at least in some small way.”