Seven Taiwanese were confirmed dead yesterday by the Xiamen Tourism Bureau after their tour bus plunged into the Jiulong River (九龍江) in the southeastern Chinese province of Fujian.
The seven killed have been identified as Lin Tai-ping (林太平), 68, male; Tong Yuei-ying (童月英), 49, female; Tong A-chu (童阿祝), 46, female; Tong A-de (童阿得), 66, male; Tong Hsu A-hsiao (童許阿笑), 69, female; Chen Chun-yuan (陳俊源), 50, male; and Lai Chen-yuei (賴陳月), 61, female.
The bus was carrying 26 people, including a Chinese driver and Taiwanese tour guide Chen Yu-ying (陳玉英), as well as a Chinese tour guide, back to Xiamen from a trip to an archeological site in Huaan County when it crashed into the Jiulong River in Zhangzhou City at about 12:30pm.
Photo: CNA
The survivors were rescued with the help of a 500-tonne crane. The injured were sent to a hospital.
Of the 19 survivors, three were reported as being in critical condition.
There was no immediate information on the cause of the accident.
Photo: CNA
The tour group, led by Taiwanese travel agency Life Tour (五福旅行社), left Taipei on Thursday to Xiamen City in Fujian via Kinmen. It was scheduled to return tomorrow, the Tourism Bureau said, citing information provided by Life Tour.
The travel agency said that it purchased travel insurance for each member in the group, with the maximum compensation for death caused by accidents being NT$2 million (US$66,000). The insurance also covers medical treatment.
Life Tour’s manager and a family member of Lai Chen-yuei departed for Xiamen yesterday evening.
Other family members are scheduled to leave for Xiamen this morning.
Tourism Bureau statistics showed that 120 tourists — including those killed yesterday — have died while traveling in China since Taiwan allowed people to travel there in 1987.
Additional reporting by CNA
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