Eight people have been sent to hospitals for treatment after a private vehicle collided with a student cycling group in Changhua County this morning.
The Changhua County Fire Department said it received a report after 10am of an accident on Changshui Road in Pitou Township (埤頭).
It dispatched 14 emergency responders and a number of ambulances to respond, it said.
Photo courtesy of a reader via CNA
Seven of those injured were students from Kang Chiao International School’s Xiugang Campus in New Taipei City’s Sindian District (新店), the department said.
A private passenger vehicle appeared to have collided with the cycling group, which was on a trip around the island, it said.
The seven students and driver of the vehicle were sent to hospitals for treatment, it said.
One 16-year-old student sustained a fracture to his left hand, it said, adding that the others were mainly treated for abrasions to the head, face and limbs.
One of the seven, a 15-year-old boy, sustained severe head injuries and was taken to Changhua Christian Hospital.
The boy was assessed to have a GCS score of 3, indicating that he is in a deep coma and completely unresponsive.
He is to be given a CT scan before being transferred into the ICU for treatment, the hospital said.
The driver also sustained head injuries in the crash, apparently from hitting the windshield, authorities said.
They were all being kept for observation as of press time.
The students said that the vehicle ran into them from the opposite lane, leaving no time to react.
Based on a preliminary investigation, the driver appeared to have fallen asleep at the wheel and veered into oncoming traffic, the Changhua Police Department's Beidou Precinct said.
The driver — who several local news outlets identified as a 40-year-old man surnamed Hsiao (蕭) — did not have any alcohol in his system, police said.
The group of cyclists included 28 students from Kang Chiao, as well as two teachers and one guide, police said.
Taipei Financial Center Corp chairwoman Janet Chia’s (賈永婕) son was participating in the cycling trip, but was uninjured, Chia said in a statement.
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