A bus in Taiwan reported to have been taking local tourists home from visiting seasonal cherry blossoms veered off a highway with 32 feared dead, the national fire department said. / AFP PHOTO / SAM YEH
by Michelle Yun
Eagle News Service
TAIPEI, Taiwan (AFP) — Distraught relatives in Taiwan gathered to mourn loved ones on Tuesday after a bus carrying elderly local tourists flipped on its side and left 33 dead in one of the island’s worst-ever road accidents.
The group of 44 had been returning from a trip to see seasonal cherry blossoms at a farm in central Taichung region when their bus veered off a highway on Monday night on the outskirts of Taipei.
Television footage showed the top of the vehicle ripped off, with occupants tossed onto the roadside.
The latest victim died Tuesday morning after suffering multiple injuries and internal bleeding, Wanfang Hospital said, bringing the toll to 33.
It was the latest in a series of deadly incidents in Taiwan after a bus fire last July killed 25 Chinese holidaymakers.
Police are investigating whether the bus in the latest crash was speeding at the time, according to reports.
Dashcam footage reportedly from a vehicle behind the bus shows it turning off the main highway onto an adjoining road. It then flipped over, leaving behind a mangled pile of metal which was cleared later by cranes.
The bus driver’s daughter identified as Kang Yi-jen described her father as overworked, according to local media.
“I think he was fatigued while driving… my father worked very hard to pay our mortgage and tuition but they are trying to lay the blame on him,” she told reporters.
Some reports said the driver of the bus had been working for 14 hours straight.
But Ringo Lee of the Travel Agent Association of Taiwan said the driver had had “sufficient rest” before taking the group to the popular scenic area of Wuling.
Passengers were asleep at the time of the crash. One survivor described it as “hell.”
“The bus was lopsided when it was passing the turn and people were waking up and screaming,” 54-year-old Hsiao Shiu-hua told the China Times.
– Prayers for the dead –
Relatives returned to the scene of the accident Tuesday to perform a religious ritual for the dead. They threw banknotes towards the slope where the bus crashed and chanted prayers.
Family members, some in tears, also gathered at a Taipei funeral parlour where some bodies are being stored. One said the agency that organised the trip should “take responsibility” for the disaster.
Dozens of Buddhist volunteers flanked the entrance to the hall, praying for the dead.
Ente Li was at the parlour with his 37-year-old cousin, whose sister and parents were killed.
“They were a family of four living together — he didn’t feel like going along,” Li told AFP.
President Tsai Ing-wen visited the funeral parlour Tuesday afternoon and spoke briefly to relatives.
The driver had two outstanding traffic violations, including one for not wearing a seatbelt, but no drunk-driving record, according to the transport ministry.
Ringo Lee added that the 19-year-old bus was a “high-class vehicle”. The ministry said it was due for a check in April.
An investigation into last year’s fatal bus inferno outside Taipei found the driver had intentionally set fire to it in a suicide bid before it veered into a crash barrier.
Earlier this month, 21 Chinese tourists suffered injuries after their bus rammed into a railway bridge in southern Taiwan.
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© Agence France-Presse
