A tour bus carrying Hong Kong tourists skidded off a hilly highway and flipped over in heavy rain yesterday in northern Taiwan, killing five people and injuring 32 others, officials and local media said.
One injured tourist told reporters that the driver had been arguing with someone on his mobile phone and that passengers urged him to slow down as they left the scenic town of Chiufen, known for its traditional homes built on a steep hill.
"He was driving very fast. We asked him to slow down but he wouldn't listen," the tourist, who wasn't identified, told a local cable news station.
Other media quoted the tour bus company as saying the bus' brakes failed as it was turning on a steep hill, causing the driver to lose control before the bus flipped and fell down an embankment.
Local cable news showed police keeping an official tally of the dead and injured on a white board. An officer wrote in red ink that five people were dead on arrival, another five were seriously hurt and 27 were slightly injured.
The driver was among the injured, but the extent of his injuries wasn't immediately announced.
Local television news reports showed video footage of rescue workers putting bloodied passengers on stretchers. The smashed-up bus was leaning on the highway embankment.
A Tourism Bureau official, who did not give his name, identified two of the victims as Hong Kong sisters So Yun-foon (
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