Post by QPR Report on Dec 2, 2009 8:22:38 GMT
14 Years....On This Day in 2006
The Victim:, Tu Quang Hoang Vu, was 25.
The four QPR Players it subsequently became known were: Harry Smart, Kieron St Aime, Ramone Rose and Chris Arthur
December 2006 - As reported at the time
qprreport.blogspot.com/2006/12/arrest-of-3-qpr-youth-players-over.html
Arrest of 3 QPR Youth Players Over Death at Train Station & Serious Injury to Youth Player Now in National Press
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News of the arrest of three QPR Youth players after a death at a London train statin (Earl's Court) and the serious injury to a fourth QPR youth player is now in the national press.
BBC - Tube fall footballer 'critical'
A promising young footballer is in a critical condition after he fell in front of a Tube train that hit and killed a Vietnamese student.
The injured youth was named as Harry Smart, 17, of QPR's youth team.
Student Tu Quang Hoang Vu, 25, died when he was struck by the same Piccadilly Line train on 23 November at Earl's Court.
The Kingston University student had come to England to secure a future for himself and his family, relatives said.
"His loss has left us devastated," they said in a statement, appealing for witnesses to come forward.
Mr Smart suffered a fractured skull and a punctured artery in the incident which British Transport police are treating as suspicious.
He is believed to have been a former team-mate of Kiyan Prince, who was stabbed to death outside his school.
The retrial of a teenage schoolboy accused of murdering the young footballer is due to begin on 11 December
Shocked and saddened
Three members of the Queens Park Rangers youth football team have been questioned and released on bail after Mr Vu's death.
CCTV images have been released of potentially significant witnesses who may have seen the moments leading up to his fall. Mr Vu was pronounced dead at the scene.
British Transport Police contacted Mr Vu's family in Hanoi to tell them of his death and ask for help in a witness appeal.
"We are deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden and tragic loss of a much loved son and brother," said a family statement.
He was a postgraduate student studying a year-long master of architecture course.
The university will shortly be honouring his memory by planting a tree at its Knights Park campus.
BBC
The Times/Michael Horsnell -QPR youth players arrested over Tube death
Three youth team players for Queens Park Rangers football club have been arrested on suspicion of murder over the death of a promising young Vietnamese architect.
Reports under investigation by police suggest that the footballers, two aged 16 and one 17, were "horsing around" on a platform at Earl’s Court Station in London when Tu Quang Hoang Vu, 25, fell into the path of an eastbound Piccadilly Line train.
The fatal fall also left footballer Harry Smart, 17, in a critical condition with head and leg injuries.
It is believed that Mr Smart was play-fighting on a team-mate’s shoulders when he fell during the rush-hour on November 23, taking Mr Vu with him.
The footballers are all friends and former team-mates of the trainee footballer Kiyan Prince, 15, who was stabbed to death this year outside the London Academy School in Edgware, north London. Smart was a spokesman for QPR at the funeral.
A coroner’s inquest into the student’s death opened today at Westminster Coroner’s Court where it emerged he was completing a masters degree at Kingston University.
In a statement, his family said: "We are deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden and tragic loss of a much loved son and brother. Tu was an enthusiastic and brilliant student who was much loved by his friends both in Hanoi and here in England. He came to England to receive the best possible education to secure a future for himself and his family at home in Vietnam.
"His loss has left us devastated by this incident. Tu’s mother and father were too traumatised to travel to see their son and await his return to their family home."
An anonymous tube worker described the incident on a website, saying: "I spoke to the driver of the train and he said it just looked like a bunch of youths mucking around.
"One barged another as the train came in, and as he lost his balance he grabbed another to steady himself and they both fell under."
A British Transport Police spokeswoman said: "Three people have been arrested on suspicion of murder and released on bail, but no charges have been brought.
"It is being treated as a suspicious incident. We are examining evidence and appealing for witnesses."
A spokesman for QPR FC said: "The club can confirm that three members of the youth team are currently helping the British Transport Police with their enquiries while one remains in a serious condition.
The thoughts of everyone at QPR are with the families of those involved."
Police have spoken to a number of witnesses who were on the platform at the time of the incident.
Through examination of CCTV footage, there are a further seven potentially significant eye witnesses officers would like to talk to.
In a statement, Kingston University said that Tu Quang Hoang Vu was a postgraduate student studying a year-long Master of Architecture who had previously studied architecture for six years at Hanoi Architectural University in Vietnam.
Carol Mancke, his course director at the university, said: "Tu was a student who showed great promise and potential. We had no hesitation in offering him a place and were extremely impressed by the glowing credentials and exceptional examples of project work he sent us with his application.
"He was just beginning a design project with two fellow students and was extremely popular with his fellow course-mates and lecturers."
The university will shortly honour his memory by planting a tree at its campus.
The Times
The Sun -QPR trio in Tube 'murder' probe By JAMES CLENCH December 02, 2006
THREE footballers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a student was killed by a Tube train.
The trio, Queens Park Rangers youth team stars aged 16 and 17, were released on bail.
A team-mate, Harry Smart, was “stable” last night in a London hospital following the horror.
It has been claimed Smart, 17, was larking about and sitting on a pal’s shoulders when he fell and took bystander Tu Quang Hoang Vu, 25, with him.
Mr Vu’s relatives said yesterday he came to England from Vietnam “to secure a future for himself and his family”.
He was studying architecture at Kingston University, where tutors said he was “exceptional”.
He and Harry fell under a Piccadilly line train at Earl’s Court on November 23. Smart suffered a fractured skull and punctured artery.
He and his team-mates are all friends — and played with soccer starlet Kiyan Prince, 15, who was stabbed to death outside his school six months ago.
Smart was a spokesman for QPR at the funeral.
A Tube worker wrote on a website: “The train driver said it just looked like a bunch of youths mucking around.
“One barged into another who tried to steady himself and both fell under.”
The Sun
The Mirror - 2 December 2006 - QPR TRAIN DEATH QUIZ
THREE teenage footballers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man fell under a London tube train.
The Queen's Park Rangers youth teamers were alleged to have been play-fighting on a busy platform at Earls Court.
It is thought a fourth boy QPR's Harry Smart, 17, was on a friend's shoulders when he knocked into student architect Tu Quang Hoang Vu, 25. Both fell under the train.
Harry is fighting for his life. He was a teammate of Kiyan Prince, 16, killed in May. A QPR source said: "It's unbelievable that another tragedy should hit the same team."
Mirror
This is London -Tube plunge teen was in Kiyan team
The teenager left fighting for his life when he and another man fell in front of a Tube train at Earl's Court last week is a former teammate of stabbed teenage footballer Kiyan Prince.
The identities of the two men involved in the horror plunge were revealed for the first time today. Young architect Tu Quang Hoang Vu, 25, was killed in the fall and soccer hopeful Harry Smart, 17, was left hospitalised in a critical condition.
It is thought the teenager had been "play fighting" with teammates on the platform when they accidentally knocked into bystander Mr Vu, from Vietnam, a masters student at Kingston University. The footballers, all of them regular players in the Queens Park Rangers' youth team, were friends of Kiyan Prince, 15, who was stabbed to death outside a school six months ago.
Smart, who lives with his parents in Pinner, north-west London, acted as a spokesman for the youth team at his funeral. A club source said: "It's unbelievable that another tragedy should hit the same youth team so soon. It feels like a curse."
His parents were last night at his bedside. His father said: "We are very shaken up by everything."
An online account of the incident, which happened during last Thursday's rush hour, has been posted on the internet by an anonymous Tube worker. It said: "Four youths were mucking about on the platform when one knocked into another passenger, and they both went under the train."
Three youths were arrested and have been released on bail. Police are appealing for witnesses to contact them on 020 7391 5275.
This is London
Last Saturday, The club issued this statement:
QPR can confirm that three members of the Youth Team are currently helping the British Transport Police with their enquiries while one remains in a serious condition.
This follows an incident at Earls Court tube station last Thursday.
The thoughts of everyone at QPR are with the families of those involved.
The Club will make no further comment relating to this incident at this time.
The Victim:, Tu Quang Hoang Vu, was 25. The four QPR Players it subsequently became known were: Harry Smart, Kieron St Aime, Ramone Rose and Chris Arthur
An Obituary quang-hoang-tu-vu.memory-of.com/About.aspx
This memorial website was created in the memory of our loved one, Quang Hoang Tu Vu who was born in VietNam on January 08, 1981 and passed away on November 23, 2006 at the age of 25. We will remember him forever.
Vû Quang Hòang Tú
Please light a candle before you go.
Thank you.
As a child growing up in the tropical heat of northern Vietnam, Vu Quang Hoang Tu longed to come to Britain. He dreamt about standing on Tower Bridge.He loved the magnificent stone buildings along the river in London.
Tu, 25, a student of architecture at Kingston University, was on the eastbound platform of Earls Court Station during the rush hour on November 23. He was standing next to a group of teenage members of Queens Park Rangers Football Club. The footballers appeared to be “play fighting” when one of them, 17-year-old Harry Smart, fell from a friend’s shoulders on to the tracks, taking Tu down with him into the path of an oncoming train.
The young footballer survived, but Tu died instantly . It would be two days before the news travelled the 5,700 miles (9,200km) to his home in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.
He particularly wanted to study in Britain to learn about British architecture. He thought that England was the cradle of architecture and he studied the internet and books to learn more about the styles.
Tu had another reason for choosing London as his place of study — its safety compared with the chaotic cities of North America. He knew about the Tube bombings but he thought that England has a good security system and that he would be safe in London.
In any family, the loss of a son would be devastating, but the story of Vu Quang Hoang Tu is filled with cruel ironies. He was the elder of two sons, his family had spent their life savings on his studies in London — a year-long English language course, which he had successfully completed, and a master’s degree in architecture.
The English course cost $7,000 (£3,500) and the master’s cost £9,200. It took Tu's parent all their life saving to save up this money — more than 30 years of savings. They now have no money left to spend on their second son. They had hoped that after graduation Tu would return and get a good job and pay for his brother to continue his education.
Tu was an exceptionally bright, promising and decent young man. He grew up in Hanoi. Like all Vietnamese of their generation, his parents have lived through great suffering. Tu's mum, a medical technician, survived a notorious US bombing raid on her hospital in Christmas 1972 during the Vietnam War.
Tu was born into a very traditional family, Tu believe in having a good education. He follow Buddhism, so from a young age he was taught to help others. He was very respectful of his parents and kind to his friends and helped them when they were in trouble. He used to help the younger students with their studies. He was a very good son and very intelligent.
He graduated with an architecture degree from a Hanoi university, then left for London in November 2005. His family supported him for two months, to ease the financial burden on his parents back home, Tu found himself a part-time job washing up in a Vietnamese restaurant. His command of English improved rapidly. Tu was attracted by the promise of how much better life could get, with a little money, an international education, and a lot of work. He shared a rented house with another student in Wood Green, and became the goalkeeper for the Vietnamese students’ team.
At weekends and during university holidays, Tu would take his notebook and pens and roam the city, drawing what he saw in a pictorial diary. He explored the city all the time.
He was planning to return to Vietnam over the Christmas holidays, before returning to Britain for the second and final year of his studies. The family was preparing another party to welcome him home, but now they have to prepare
for his funeral.
Tu's will be sadly missed by his family and friends.
JUNE 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Inquest Focus on Four QPR Youth Players
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Update: Press Association New evidence over Tube death
Several footballers could face charges over the death of a student in London after new evidence came to light.
Police confirmed they are examining new material over the death of Tu Quang Hoang Vu at Earl's Court Tube station.
He fell under a train as a group of QPR youth players were seen play fighting. Three teenagers arrested after the incident were released without charge. Press Association
Epsom Guardian/David Lindsell - Kingston student's Tube death inquest halted
The inquest into the death of a Kingston student who died after being falling into the path of a Tube train has been unexpectedly halted.
The jury at Westminster Coroner's Court was today shown "fresh evidence" by police which the coroner ruled could explain how Tu Hioa Quang Vu, 25, came to be knocked off the Earl's Court platform in November 2006 by QPR youth footballer Harry Smart.
Mr Smart, who also fell and was hit by the train, and his friends, who the jury heard were "horse-playing" on the platform, were furious at the decision to adjourn the inquest.
Inquests cannot assign blame but if fresh evidence emerges which could assist police, coroners have to stop proceedings.
The four boys were arrested at the time of Vu's death on suspicion of manslaughter but no charges were ever brought.
Earlier, jurors watching stilted CCTV footage of the incident which showed Mr Smart emerging from a blind spot between the cameras and careering into an unaware Mr Vu.
The jury were then shown a computer "re-construction" of the station, complete with a James Bond Devil May Care poster, using stick figures to suggest the positions of the youths on the platform.
Mr Smart had told the jury he had no memory of the incident which left him with severe head injuries and a metal rod in his leg.
He said: "The only remembrance I have is of the Sunday before...The next thing I got my bearings of where I am is in hospital." Report
Big News Day -Wednesday, 18th June 2008 - Footballers Could Face Tube Death Charges
Four young football stars could still face charges over the death of a university student pushed in front of a tube train two years ago after dramatic new scientific evidence was produced at an inquest.
The hearing into the death of Tu Quang Hoang Vu, who was reading for a Masters degree in architectural design, was dramatically halted by Westminster Deputy Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe to allow the Crown Prosecution Service time to view the sensational new material.
CPS lawyers will then have to decide if their is sufficient evidence to bring charges against teenage footballers Harry Smart, Chris Arthur, Ramone Rose and Kieron St Aime, who were all members of Championship club QPR's youth team at the time of the incident in November 2006.
The four youths were all arrested on suspicion of murder shortly after Kingston University student Mr Vu's death, but no charges have ever been laid.
The inquest had heard Vietnam-born Mr Vu was killed instantly after Smart, then just 17, shoulder-barged him off a platform at Earl's Court tube station in west London moments before tumbling head-first on to the tracks himself.
Seconds earlier the four lads were seen messing around and play-fighting by other commuters on the crowded platform shortly after 4pm on November 23rd, 2006.
The potentially crucial new evidence, which is still being developed, came from the Transport Research Laboratory whose resident scientists created a virtual reality 3D reconstruction of the movements of the young footballers in the crucial moments leading up to Mr Vu's death.
The high tech reconstruction covers the vital missing seconds which happened in a "blindspot" not covered by CCTV cameras monitoring the platform.
Detectives hope it will show what caused Smart to suddenly stagger away from the rest of his pals towards Mr Vu, sending the student flying over the edge of the platform.
At the moment of impact Smart's trousers appeared on CCTV stills shown to the inquest to have been pulled halfway down.
However, his three team-mates all denied doing anything that might have made him stumble when they gave evidence at the inquest.
They also denied play-fighting on the crowded platform, although CCTV stills clearly showed at least two of them "boxing".
Smart's pals instead suggested he had fallen after "losing control of his body".
Smart, who spent 10 days in hospital after suffering a broken leg and a fractured skull when he fell on to the tracks, told the inquest jury he had no memory of the incident, even though he remained conscious throughout and spoke lucidly to medics while trapped under the train.
Suited Smart told the jury: "In all honesty I don't have any recollection of the events at all.
"The last memory I have of that week was the Sunday four days earlier and the next time I get my bearings was in hospital a week later. It's just a total blank."
However, the inquest heard that when interviewed by police weeks after the incident he gave a prepared statement claiming he could remember falling backwards off the platform and that his memory was slowly returning piece by piece, prompting the Deputy Coroner to comment: "His memory seems to have got worse since then."
Det Supt Ashley Croft, of the British Transport Police, told the court he was "suspicious" and asked to see Smart's medical records to see if there was any reason why he might have fainted.
However, Smart's lawyers refused police consent to view their clients medical files.
And a month after Mr Vu's death Smart wrote on QPR's official website: "I am absolutely fine and recovering as we speak. I've been told it will be four months until I get back on the pitch. Just for the record, the incident that occurred was purely accidental.
"We were not horseplaying or fighting. In fact we were all well away from the edge of the platform. I apparently fainted and accidentally fell on to the other man. I'm very sorry. It was a complete accident."
Det Supt Croft told the inquest: "There was no indication that he lost consciousness. Although he is saying he is suffering from memory loss, the web posting tended to contradict that."
When Dr Radcliffe was told that CPS lawyers were not yet aware of the new 3D reconstruction she adjourned the inquest and said: "I think the opportunity should be given for the CPS to view this additional evidence.
"I think there is still a chance that someone or some persons could be charged with the additional evidence available." 2008 Global News Feeds +44(0)207 684 3000
Report
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London Informer
RSS News for you | What's this?
Death of design student was a 'tragic accident'
May 20 2009 By Ellie Dyer
'INAPPROPRIATE behaviour' from Queen's Park Rangers youth players on an Earl's Court tube platform led to a tragic accident which left a 25-year-old student dead, an inquest jury has ruled.
Police initially treated the death of Tu Quang Hoang Vu in November 2006 as a murder.
The Kingston University architecture design student was slammed by a Piccadilly line train, after sharing the platform with four young QPR footballers who were on their way home from Hammersmith College.
Witnesses spotted Harry Smart, Kieron St Aime, Ramone Rose and Chris Arthur playing around on the platform.
At one point Mr Smart, then aged 17, stumbled and collided into Mr Vu, sending both young men into the path of a passing train.
Vu, originally from Vietnam, died of multiple injuries. Smart escaped with a fractured skull – which he claims left him with amnesia.
Due to an upgrade of CCTV at the station, the lead-up to the fatal fall lay hidden in a camera blind spot.
British Transport Police spent two years painstakingly creating high-tech images to reconstruct the incident.
But at Westminster Coroner's Court on Monday deputy coroner Shirley Radcliffe ruled that the footage did not answer the 'puzzles' surrounding the death.
She also confirmed that the Crown Prosecution Service would not be pursuing any criminal charges against the boys.
Dr Radcliffe ordered a jury not to consider whether it was an unlawful killing, ruling that they must return an open verdict or one of accidental death.
She said: "I'm sure they are going to have to live with the fact that they have been under suspicion for a long time and have possibly, in some way, contributed to the death of Mr Vu."
The jury spent just 30 minutes deliberating before returning a narrative verdict that 'Mr Vu died, following inappropriate behaviour on the platform, as a result of an accident'.
The young footballers, some of whom were accompanied by their parents, slapped each other's hands and smiled with relief after the verdict was read out.
Dpt Coroner Shirley Radcliffe said: "I would like to extend our condolences to Mr Vu's family. He was a young man whose life was cut short tragically."
Detective Superintendent Ashley Croft, from the BTP, said: "The investigation was limited because of the CCTV blind spot."
Statement
The Victim:, Tu Quang Hoang Vu, was 25.
The four QPR Players it subsequently became known were: Harry Smart, Kieron St Aime, Ramone Rose and Chris Arthur
December 2006 - As reported at the time
qprreport.blogspot.com/2006/12/arrest-of-3-qpr-youth-players-over.html
Arrest of 3 QPR Youth Players Over Death at Train Station & Serious Injury to Youth Player Now in National Press
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News of the arrest of three QPR Youth players after a death at a London train statin (Earl's Court) and the serious injury to a fourth QPR youth player is now in the national press.
BBC - Tube fall footballer 'critical'
A promising young footballer is in a critical condition after he fell in front of a Tube train that hit and killed a Vietnamese student.
The injured youth was named as Harry Smart, 17, of QPR's youth team.
Student Tu Quang Hoang Vu, 25, died when he was struck by the same Piccadilly Line train on 23 November at Earl's Court.
The Kingston University student had come to England to secure a future for himself and his family, relatives said.
"His loss has left us devastated," they said in a statement, appealing for witnesses to come forward.
Mr Smart suffered a fractured skull and a punctured artery in the incident which British Transport police are treating as suspicious.
He is believed to have been a former team-mate of Kiyan Prince, who was stabbed to death outside his school.
The retrial of a teenage schoolboy accused of murdering the young footballer is due to begin on 11 December
Shocked and saddened
Three members of the Queens Park Rangers youth football team have been questioned and released on bail after Mr Vu's death.
CCTV images have been released of potentially significant witnesses who may have seen the moments leading up to his fall. Mr Vu was pronounced dead at the scene.
British Transport Police contacted Mr Vu's family in Hanoi to tell them of his death and ask for help in a witness appeal.
"We are deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden and tragic loss of a much loved son and brother," said a family statement.
He was a postgraduate student studying a year-long master of architecture course.
The university will shortly be honouring his memory by planting a tree at its Knights Park campus.
BBC
The Times/Michael Horsnell -QPR youth players arrested over Tube death
Three youth team players for Queens Park Rangers football club have been arrested on suspicion of murder over the death of a promising young Vietnamese architect.
Reports under investigation by police suggest that the footballers, two aged 16 and one 17, were "horsing around" on a platform at Earl’s Court Station in London when Tu Quang Hoang Vu, 25, fell into the path of an eastbound Piccadilly Line train.
The fatal fall also left footballer Harry Smart, 17, in a critical condition with head and leg injuries.
It is believed that Mr Smart was play-fighting on a team-mate’s shoulders when he fell during the rush-hour on November 23, taking Mr Vu with him.
The footballers are all friends and former team-mates of the trainee footballer Kiyan Prince, 15, who was stabbed to death this year outside the London Academy School in Edgware, north London. Smart was a spokesman for QPR at the funeral.
A coroner’s inquest into the student’s death opened today at Westminster Coroner’s Court where it emerged he was completing a masters degree at Kingston University.
In a statement, his family said: "We are deeply shocked and saddened by the sudden and tragic loss of a much loved son and brother. Tu was an enthusiastic and brilliant student who was much loved by his friends both in Hanoi and here in England. He came to England to receive the best possible education to secure a future for himself and his family at home in Vietnam.
"His loss has left us devastated by this incident. Tu’s mother and father were too traumatised to travel to see their son and await his return to their family home."
An anonymous tube worker described the incident on a website, saying: "I spoke to the driver of the train and he said it just looked like a bunch of youths mucking around.
"One barged another as the train came in, and as he lost his balance he grabbed another to steady himself and they both fell under."
A British Transport Police spokeswoman said: "Three people have been arrested on suspicion of murder and released on bail, but no charges have been brought.
"It is being treated as a suspicious incident. We are examining evidence and appealing for witnesses."
A spokesman for QPR FC said: "The club can confirm that three members of the youth team are currently helping the British Transport Police with their enquiries while one remains in a serious condition.
The thoughts of everyone at QPR are with the families of those involved."
Police have spoken to a number of witnesses who were on the platform at the time of the incident.
Through examination of CCTV footage, there are a further seven potentially significant eye witnesses officers would like to talk to.
In a statement, Kingston University said that Tu Quang Hoang Vu was a postgraduate student studying a year-long Master of Architecture who had previously studied architecture for six years at Hanoi Architectural University in Vietnam.
Carol Mancke, his course director at the university, said: "Tu was a student who showed great promise and potential. We had no hesitation in offering him a place and were extremely impressed by the glowing credentials and exceptional examples of project work he sent us with his application.
"He was just beginning a design project with two fellow students and was extremely popular with his fellow course-mates and lecturers."
The university will shortly honour his memory by planting a tree at its campus.
The Times
The Sun -QPR trio in Tube 'murder' probe By JAMES CLENCH December 02, 2006
THREE footballers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a student was killed by a Tube train.
The trio, Queens Park Rangers youth team stars aged 16 and 17, were released on bail.
A team-mate, Harry Smart, was “stable” last night in a London hospital following the horror.
It has been claimed Smart, 17, was larking about and sitting on a pal’s shoulders when he fell and took bystander Tu Quang Hoang Vu, 25, with him.
Mr Vu’s relatives said yesterday he came to England from Vietnam “to secure a future for himself and his family”.
He was studying architecture at Kingston University, where tutors said he was “exceptional”.
He and Harry fell under a Piccadilly line train at Earl’s Court on November 23. Smart suffered a fractured skull and punctured artery.
He and his team-mates are all friends — and played with soccer starlet Kiyan Prince, 15, who was stabbed to death outside his school six months ago.
Smart was a spokesman for QPR at the funeral.
A Tube worker wrote on a website: “The train driver said it just looked like a bunch of youths mucking around.
“One barged into another who tried to steady himself and both fell under.”
The Sun
The Mirror - 2 December 2006 - QPR TRAIN DEATH QUIZ
THREE teenage footballers have been arrested on suspicion of murder after a man fell under a London tube train.
The Queen's Park Rangers youth teamers were alleged to have been play-fighting on a busy platform at Earls Court.
It is thought a fourth boy QPR's Harry Smart, 17, was on a friend's shoulders when he knocked into student architect Tu Quang Hoang Vu, 25. Both fell under the train.
Harry is fighting for his life. He was a teammate of Kiyan Prince, 16, killed in May. A QPR source said: "It's unbelievable that another tragedy should hit the same team."
Mirror
This is London -Tube plunge teen was in Kiyan team
The teenager left fighting for his life when he and another man fell in front of a Tube train at Earl's Court last week is a former teammate of stabbed teenage footballer Kiyan Prince.
The identities of the two men involved in the horror plunge were revealed for the first time today. Young architect Tu Quang Hoang Vu, 25, was killed in the fall and soccer hopeful Harry Smart, 17, was left hospitalised in a critical condition.
It is thought the teenager had been "play fighting" with teammates on the platform when they accidentally knocked into bystander Mr Vu, from Vietnam, a masters student at Kingston University. The footballers, all of them regular players in the Queens Park Rangers' youth team, were friends of Kiyan Prince, 15, who was stabbed to death outside a school six months ago.
Smart, who lives with his parents in Pinner, north-west London, acted as a spokesman for the youth team at his funeral. A club source said: "It's unbelievable that another tragedy should hit the same youth team so soon. It feels like a curse."
His parents were last night at his bedside. His father said: "We are very shaken up by everything."
An online account of the incident, which happened during last Thursday's rush hour, has been posted on the internet by an anonymous Tube worker. It said: "Four youths were mucking about on the platform when one knocked into another passenger, and they both went under the train."
Three youths were arrested and have been released on bail. Police are appealing for witnesses to contact them on 020 7391 5275.
This is London
Last Saturday, The club issued this statement:
QPR can confirm that three members of the Youth Team are currently helping the British Transport Police with their enquiries while one remains in a serious condition.
This follows an incident at Earls Court tube station last Thursday.
The thoughts of everyone at QPR are with the families of those involved.
The Club will make no further comment relating to this incident at this time.
The Victim:, Tu Quang Hoang Vu, was 25. The four QPR Players it subsequently became known were: Harry Smart, Kieron St Aime, Ramone Rose and Chris Arthur
An Obituary quang-hoang-tu-vu.memory-of.com/About.aspx
This memorial website was created in the memory of our loved one, Quang Hoang Tu Vu who was born in VietNam on January 08, 1981 and passed away on November 23, 2006 at the age of 25. We will remember him forever.
Vû Quang Hòang Tú
Please light a candle before you go.
Thank you.
As a child growing up in the tropical heat of northern Vietnam, Vu Quang Hoang Tu longed to come to Britain. He dreamt about standing on Tower Bridge.He loved the magnificent stone buildings along the river in London.
Tu, 25, a student of architecture at Kingston University, was on the eastbound platform of Earls Court Station during the rush hour on November 23. He was standing next to a group of teenage members of Queens Park Rangers Football Club. The footballers appeared to be “play fighting” when one of them, 17-year-old Harry Smart, fell from a friend’s shoulders on to the tracks, taking Tu down with him into the path of an oncoming train.
The young footballer survived, but Tu died instantly . It would be two days before the news travelled the 5,700 miles (9,200km) to his home in the Vietnamese capital, Hanoi.
He particularly wanted to study in Britain to learn about British architecture. He thought that England was the cradle of architecture and he studied the internet and books to learn more about the styles.
Tu had another reason for choosing London as his place of study — its safety compared with the chaotic cities of North America. He knew about the Tube bombings but he thought that England has a good security system and that he would be safe in London.
In any family, the loss of a son would be devastating, but the story of Vu Quang Hoang Tu is filled with cruel ironies. He was the elder of two sons, his family had spent their life savings on his studies in London — a year-long English language course, which he had successfully completed, and a master’s degree in architecture.
The English course cost $7,000 (£3,500) and the master’s cost £9,200. It took Tu's parent all their life saving to save up this money — more than 30 years of savings. They now have no money left to spend on their second son. They had hoped that after graduation Tu would return and get a good job and pay for his brother to continue his education.
Tu was an exceptionally bright, promising and decent young man. He grew up in Hanoi. Like all Vietnamese of their generation, his parents have lived through great suffering. Tu's mum, a medical technician, survived a notorious US bombing raid on her hospital in Christmas 1972 during the Vietnam War.
Tu was born into a very traditional family, Tu believe in having a good education. He follow Buddhism, so from a young age he was taught to help others. He was very respectful of his parents and kind to his friends and helped them when they were in trouble. He used to help the younger students with their studies. He was a very good son and very intelligent.
He graduated with an architecture degree from a Hanoi university, then left for London in November 2005. His family supported him for two months, to ease the financial burden on his parents back home, Tu found himself a part-time job washing up in a Vietnamese restaurant. His command of English improved rapidly. Tu was attracted by the promise of how much better life could get, with a little money, an international education, and a lot of work. He shared a rented house with another student in Wood Green, and became the goalkeeper for the Vietnamese students’ team.
At weekends and during university holidays, Tu would take his notebook and pens and roam the city, drawing what he saw in a pictorial diary. He explored the city all the time.
He was planning to return to Vietnam over the Christmas holidays, before returning to Britain for the second and final year of his studies. The family was preparing another party to welcome him home, but now they have to prepare
for his funeral.
Tu's will be sadly missed by his family and friends.
JUNE 2008
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Inquest Focus on Four QPR Youth Players
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Update: Press Association New evidence over Tube death
Several footballers could face charges over the death of a student in London after new evidence came to light.
Police confirmed they are examining new material over the death of Tu Quang Hoang Vu at Earl's Court Tube station.
He fell under a train as a group of QPR youth players were seen play fighting. Three teenagers arrested after the incident were released without charge. Press Association
Epsom Guardian/David Lindsell - Kingston student's Tube death inquest halted
The inquest into the death of a Kingston student who died after being falling into the path of a Tube train has been unexpectedly halted.
The jury at Westminster Coroner's Court was today shown "fresh evidence" by police which the coroner ruled could explain how Tu Hioa Quang Vu, 25, came to be knocked off the Earl's Court platform in November 2006 by QPR youth footballer Harry Smart.
Mr Smart, who also fell and was hit by the train, and his friends, who the jury heard were "horse-playing" on the platform, were furious at the decision to adjourn the inquest.
Inquests cannot assign blame but if fresh evidence emerges which could assist police, coroners have to stop proceedings.
The four boys were arrested at the time of Vu's death on suspicion of manslaughter but no charges were ever brought.
Earlier, jurors watching stilted CCTV footage of the incident which showed Mr Smart emerging from a blind spot between the cameras and careering into an unaware Mr Vu.
The jury were then shown a computer "re-construction" of the station, complete with a James Bond Devil May Care poster, using stick figures to suggest the positions of the youths on the platform.
Mr Smart had told the jury he had no memory of the incident which left him with severe head injuries and a metal rod in his leg.
He said: "The only remembrance I have is of the Sunday before...The next thing I got my bearings of where I am is in hospital." Report
Big News Day -Wednesday, 18th June 2008 - Footballers Could Face Tube Death Charges
Four young football stars could still face charges over the death of a university student pushed in front of a tube train two years ago after dramatic new scientific evidence was produced at an inquest.
The hearing into the death of Tu Quang Hoang Vu, who was reading for a Masters degree in architectural design, was dramatically halted by Westminster Deputy Coroner Dr Shirley Radcliffe to allow the Crown Prosecution Service time to view the sensational new material.
CPS lawyers will then have to decide if their is sufficient evidence to bring charges against teenage footballers Harry Smart, Chris Arthur, Ramone Rose and Kieron St Aime, who were all members of Championship club QPR's youth team at the time of the incident in November 2006.
The four youths were all arrested on suspicion of murder shortly after Kingston University student Mr Vu's death, but no charges have ever been laid.
The inquest had heard Vietnam-born Mr Vu was killed instantly after Smart, then just 17, shoulder-barged him off a platform at Earl's Court tube station in west London moments before tumbling head-first on to the tracks himself.
Seconds earlier the four lads were seen messing around and play-fighting by other commuters on the crowded platform shortly after 4pm on November 23rd, 2006.
The potentially crucial new evidence, which is still being developed, came from the Transport Research Laboratory whose resident scientists created a virtual reality 3D reconstruction of the movements of the young footballers in the crucial moments leading up to Mr Vu's death.
The high tech reconstruction covers the vital missing seconds which happened in a "blindspot" not covered by CCTV cameras monitoring the platform.
Detectives hope it will show what caused Smart to suddenly stagger away from the rest of his pals towards Mr Vu, sending the student flying over the edge of the platform.
At the moment of impact Smart's trousers appeared on CCTV stills shown to the inquest to have been pulled halfway down.
However, his three team-mates all denied doing anything that might have made him stumble when they gave evidence at the inquest.
They also denied play-fighting on the crowded platform, although CCTV stills clearly showed at least two of them "boxing".
Smart's pals instead suggested he had fallen after "losing control of his body".
Smart, who spent 10 days in hospital after suffering a broken leg and a fractured skull when he fell on to the tracks, told the inquest jury he had no memory of the incident, even though he remained conscious throughout and spoke lucidly to medics while trapped under the train.
Suited Smart told the jury: "In all honesty I don't have any recollection of the events at all.
"The last memory I have of that week was the Sunday four days earlier and the next time I get my bearings was in hospital a week later. It's just a total blank."
However, the inquest heard that when interviewed by police weeks after the incident he gave a prepared statement claiming he could remember falling backwards off the platform and that his memory was slowly returning piece by piece, prompting the Deputy Coroner to comment: "His memory seems to have got worse since then."
Det Supt Ashley Croft, of the British Transport Police, told the court he was "suspicious" and asked to see Smart's medical records to see if there was any reason why he might have fainted.
However, Smart's lawyers refused police consent to view their clients medical files.
And a month after Mr Vu's death Smart wrote on QPR's official website: "I am absolutely fine and recovering as we speak. I've been told it will be four months until I get back on the pitch. Just for the record, the incident that occurred was purely accidental.
"We were not horseplaying or fighting. In fact we were all well away from the edge of the platform. I apparently fainted and accidentally fell on to the other man. I'm very sorry. It was a complete accident."
Det Supt Croft told the inquest: "There was no indication that he lost consciousness. Although he is saying he is suffering from memory loss, the web posting tended to contradict that."
When Dr Radcliffe was told that CPS lawyers were not yet aware of the new 3D reconstruction she adjourned the inquest and said: "I think the opportunity should be given for the CPS to view this additional evidence.
"I think there is still a chance that someone or some persons could be charged with the additional evidence available." 2008 Global News Feeds +44(0)207 684 3000
Report
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Death of design student was a 'tragic accident'
May 20 2009 By Ellie Dyer
'INAPPROPRIATE behaviour' from Queen's Park Rangers youth players on an Earl's Court tube platform led to a tragic accident which left a 25-year-old student dead, an inquest jury has ruled.
Police initially treated the death of Tu Quang Hoang Vu in November 2006 as a murder.
The Kingston University architecture design student was slammed by a Piccadilly line train, after sharing the platform with four young QPR footballers who were on their way home from Hammersmith College.
Witnesses spotted Harry Smart, Kieron St Aime, Ramone Rose and Chris Arthur playing around on the platform.
At one point Mr Smart, then aged 17, stumbled and collided into Mr Vu, sending both young men into the path of a passing train.
Vu, originally from Vietnam, died of multiple injuries. Smart escaped with a fractured skull – which he claims left him with amnesia.
Due to an upgrade of CCTV at the station, the lead-up to the fatal fall lay hidden in a camera blind spot.
British Transport Police spent two years painstakingly creating high-tech images to reconstruct the incident.
But at Westminster Coroner's Court on Monday deputy coroner Shirley Radcliffe ruled that the footage did not answer the 'puzzles' surrounding the death.
She also confirmed that the Crown Prosecution Service would not be pursuing any criminal charges against the boys.
Dr Radcliffe ordered a jury not to consider whether it was an unlawful killing, ruling that they must return an open verdict or one of accidental death.
She said: "I'm sure they are going to have to live with the fact that they have been under suspicion for a long time and have possibly, in some way, contributed to the death of Mr Vu."
The jury spent just 30 minutes deliberating before returning a narrative verdict that 'Mr Vu died, following inappropriate behaviour on the platform, as a result of an accident'.
The young footballers, some of whom were accompanied by their parents, slapped each other's hands and smiled with relief after the verdict was read out.
Dpt Coroner Shirley Radcliffe said: "I would like to extend our condolences to Mr Vu's family. He was a young man whose life was cut short tragically."
Detective Superintendent Ashley Croft, from the BTP, said: "The investigation was limited because of the CCTV blind spot."
Statement
