A bus carrying tourists from the Chinese mainland fell from a
mountain road into a deep valley in central Taiwan on Monday,
killing six and injuring 15 others, according to the Taiwan Affairs
Office of the State Council.
The accident took place at about 7:50 PM on Monday when the
tourists were returning from visiting Mount Ali, according to
Taiwan media.
The victims included five visitors from Dalian, a city in
northeast China's Liaoning Province, and a local guide. The dead
were Wang Lixian and Wang Shaofei, employees of Dalian Detai
Shareholding Co. Ltd, Zhao Shifeng of the Tap Water Company of
Dalian Development Zone, and Li Huimei and Liu Hong, staff of
Dalian Dianci Co. Ltd.
The injured are being treated in hospital.
The tourists were insured with a travel agency in Taiwan and the
bus was legally insured too, said the Taiwan Association of Travel
Agents (TWATA).
The families of the dead would each receive a payment of 3.5
million New Taiwan dollars (875,000 yuan) and the injured would get
230,000 New Taiwan dollars (57,500 yuan) from the TWATA, it
said.
The 40-member tourist group was taking two buses to Taichung
from Mount Ali. There were 18 tourists, one mainland guide, one
local guide and a driver on the bus that crashed.
The accident was caused by brake failure, according to the bus
driver.
The Taiwan affairs office said Monday night that the
mainland-based cross-strait tourism exchange association is
preparing for the trip of the victims' family members to
Taiwan.
The Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits is
keeping contact with Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation and
other organizations to facilitate the trip of the victims' family
members, the office said.
(Xinhua News Agency October 3, 2006)