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Taiwan tourist bus crash: 26 reported dead after vehicle catches fire Taiwan tourist bus crash: 26 reported dead after vehicle catches fire
(35 minutes later)
A tour bus carrying visitors from China has caught fire near Taiwan’s capital, killing 26 people, according to reports in Taiwanese media. A tour bus carrying visitors from China has caught fire on a busy highway near Taiwan’s capital, killing all 26 people on board, officials said.
The accident took place on the No 2 national highway in Taoyuan county, south of Taipei, the official Central News Agency and others reported. The accident took place on the No 2 national highway in Taoyuan county, south of Taipei, where the island’s international airport is located, the county’s fire and rescue service said.
It said 24 of those on board were visitors from Liaoning province who had been scheduled to fly home on Tuesday afternoon. The others killed were the driver and a tour guide, both Taiwanese.
BREAKING: Tour bus catches fire near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, cause unknown, casualties confirmed pic.twitter.com/OoED0zwmTMBREAKING: Tour bus catches fire near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, cause unknown, casualties confirmed pic.twitter.com/OoED0zwmTM
The website of Taiwan’s China Times newspaper said those on board were tourists from China’s Liaoning province, but officials have not confirmed that. The paper said no one aboard made it off the burning bus. The website of Taiwan’s China Times said no one aboard made it off the burning bus, and that many of the bodies had been badly charred.
The Central News Agency and others reported that the bus apparently smashed into a roadside barrier and caught fire, although the exact sequence of events wasn’t immediately clear. Photos from the scene showed flames and thick black smoke pouring from the front of the bus. There was no official word on the cause of the fire, although Taiwan’s official Central News Agency and others reported that the bus apparently burst into flames after spinning out of control and smashing into the highway’s guard rail. However, the exact sequence of events was not immediately clear.
A Taoyuan fire department official, Zeng Hao, said that the total number of dead and injured was still being compiled. Photos from the scene showed flames and thick black smoke pouring from the front of the bus after the crash.
Thirteen firefighting vehicles and 30 firefighters were sent to the scene, but the fire apparently spread too rapidly, and once the flames were extinguished, the vehicle was heavily blackened from one end to the other.