A bus driver was lightly injured in an explosion in the luggage compartment of a tour bus in Chiayi County’s Puzih Township (朴子) on Sunday.
Police have launched an investigation into the blast that occurred at about 9am, when the bus was parked outside a temple. The driver sustained an injury to his left hand, but refused to see a doctor, saying the injury was minor.
The passengers, Kaohsiung residents who were on a pilgrimage to Buddhist and Taoist temples in the county, were not on the bus when the explosion happened, police said.
Police said the explosion might have been caused by incense burners, firecrackers or gas bottles stored in the luggage compartment, but added that the cause would be determined by the investigation.
Some travel agencies on Sunday said that although government agencies are strictly regulating tour packages, numerous pilgrimage tours offer three-day trips around Taiwan which involve long driving hours every day.
A travel agent showed reporters an itinerary which he said belonged to one of the tours.
The itinerary showed that the tour starts in Taipei at 6am on day 1 and ends the day in a hotel in Pingtung County’s Hengchun Township (恆春). On day 2, the tour passes through Taitung County, staying overnight at a hotel in Hualien before proceeding through Yilan County and returning to Taipei on day 3.
Tourism Bureau official Chen Chiung-hua (陳瓊華) said the bureau can check the legality of a pilgrimage tour if it is managed by a travel agent, but added that many groups are not managed by travel agents.
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