Six people died yesterday when a tour bus carrying 45 passengers crashed into the side of a mountain along the Suhua Highway.
Ten people were severely injured and five had minor injuries.
The Yilan County Fire Department said that it received a report of the accident at 4:29pm, adding that it is still investigating the cause.
Photo: Chiang Chih-hsiung, Taipei Times
The bus had been manufactured in January 2018 and had passed its regular inspection this year, the Directorate-General of Highways said.
The driver, surnamed Yu (游), had obtained his license for large vehicles on March 30 last year, it added.
Yu said that the brakes were not working.
New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店) Office said that the bus was carrying residents of the district’s Fusing Borough (復興).
Fusing Borough Warden Liu Hung-chu (劉洪珠) had arranged a two-day outing for 160 residents using her own money, the office said.
She had hired four buses, and the accident occurred on the return leg of the trip, it said, adding that the three other buses arrived safely at Suao Station.
Teng Lung Transport (騰龍通運), which the buses are registered under, said that it had only learned of the accident after seeing it on the news.
The trip was arranged through Good Vision Travel Agency Co (好視野旅行社), the company said.
Representatives from the bus company and travel agency visited the site of the accident.
Teng Lung Transport paid each injured person NT$2,000 (US$70.76) and gave NT$50,000 to family members of the deceased.
The Taiwan Transport Safety Board dispatched officials to gather information for an official inquiry.
The crash site, near the 115km marker of the southbound lane, obstructed traffic, but the Suhua Highway traffic control center said the road had been cleared by 8pm.
The Chinese-language Apple Daily reported that New Taipei City Mayor Hou You-yi (侯友宜) had telephoned Yilan County Commissioner Lin Tzu-miao (林姿妙) as soon as he learned of the accident and asked that Lin make every effort to help the injured people.
Hou last night visited the wounded and their family members at the Tri-service General Hospital’s Yilan branch, the report said.
The Insurance Bureau said that those who died in the accident would each be entitled to compensation of at least NT$4 million from South China Insurance Co (華南產險).
That includes a basic coverage of NT$2 million in compulsory vehicle liability insurance and NT$2 million in travel agency liability insurance, Insurance Bureau Director-General Shih Chiung-hwa (施瓊華) said.
Additional reporting by Kao Shih-ching
CREDIT-GRABBER: China said its coast guard rescued the crew of a fishing vessel that caught fire, who were actually rescued by a nearby Taiwanese boat and the CGA Maritime search and rescue operations do not have borders, and China should not use a shipwreck to infringe upon Taiwanese sovereignty, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The coast guard made the statement in response to the China Coast Guard (CCG) saying it saved a Taiwanese fishing boat. The Chuan Yu No. 6 (全漁6號), a fishing vessel registered in Keelung, on Thursday caught fire and sank in waters northeast of Diaoyutai Islands (釣魚台). The vessel left Keelung’s Badouzih Fishing Harbor (八斗子漁港) at 3:35pm on Sunday last week, with seven people on board — a 62-year-old Taiwanese captain surnamed Chang (張) and six
RISKY BUSINESS: The ‘incentives’ include initiatives that get suspended for no reason, creating uncertainty and resulting in considerable losses for Taiwanese, the MAC said China’s “incentives” failed to sway sentiment in Taiwan, as willingness to work in China hit a record low of 1.6 percent, a Ministry of Labor survey showed. The Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) also reported that the number of Taiwanese workers in China has nearly halved from a peak of 430,000 in 2012 to an estimated 231,000 in 2024. That marked a new low in the proportion of Taiwanese going abroad to work. The ministry’s annual survey on “Labor Life and Employment Status” includes questions respondents’ willingness to seek employment overseas. Willingness to work in China has steadily declined from
LEVERAGE: China did not ‘need to fire a shot’ to deny Taiwan airspace over Africa when it owns ‘half the continent’s debt,’ a US official said, calling it economic warfare The EU has raised concerns about overflight rights following the delay of President William Lai’s (賴清德) planned state visit to the Kingdom of Eswatini after three African nations denied overflight clearance for his charter at the last minute. Taiwanese allies Paraguay and Saint Kitts and Nevis, as well as several US lawmakers and the Inter-Parliamentary Alliance on China (IPAC) condemned China for allegedly pressuring the countries. Lai was scheduled to fly directly to Taiwan’s only African ally from yesterday to Sunday to celebrate the 40th anniversary of King Mswati III’s accession and his 58th birthday, but Seychelles, Mauritius and Madagascar suddenly revoked
The number of pet cats in Taiwan surpassed that of pet dogs for the first time last year, reaching 1,742,033, a 32.8 percent increase from 2023, the Ministry of Agriculture said yesterday, citing a survey. By contrast, the number of pet dogs declined slightly by 1.2 percent over the same period to 1,462,528, the ministry said. Despite the shift, households with dogs still slightly outnumber those with cats by 1.2 percent. However, while the number of households with multiple dogs has remained relatively stable, households keeping more than two cats have increased, contributing to the overall rise in the feline population. The trend
RSS