Bus crash in Taitung leaves 1 Taiwanese dead, 14 Chinese injured

[Jar Jar Binks]

Bus crash in Taitung leaves 1 Taiwanese dead, 14 Chinese injured

2014/03/15 20:29:58

(Photo from a local spa)

Taipei, March 15 (CNA) A head-on collision in the eastern county of Taitung Saturday left a flatbed truck driver dead and injured 16 passengers on a tour bus, including 14 Chinese tourists, local police said.

The accident occurred at around 4 p.m. when the tour bus carrying 21 Chinese tourists from the city of Tianjin was traveling on the South-Link Highway between Kaohsiung and Taitung, police said.

The truck was coming from the opposite direction and crashed into a hillside following the collision, according to police.

The truck driver was thrown from his vehicle during the crash and pronounced dead at the scene, police said.

Aboard the bus, the tour group's leader, a Chinese national, suffered "relatively serious" injuries, while 13 Chinese tourists, a Taiwanese bus driver, and a local Taiwanese tour guide were lightly injured, police said.

All of the injured have been sent to nearby hospitals.

(By Tyson Lu and Y.F. Low)