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Relatives of bus blaze victims visit accident site

Relatives of bus blaze victims visit accident site

Relatives of bus blaze victims visit accident site

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – The relatives of the mostly Chinese victims of this week’s bus blaze on Saturday visited the site of the accident where 26 people died.
On July 19, a tour bus on its way to Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport caught fire and smashed into the railing of the No.2 Freeway, with all people on board unable to escape. The dead were 23 tourists from northeastern China’s Liaoning Province and a Chinese tour guide who were arriving at the end of an eight-day tour, as well as a Taiwanese guide and the Taiwanese driver.
On Saturday afternoon, the relatives of the victims who had flown over from China were allowed to pay their respects in a traditional ceremony at the site of the accident on the freeway between 2 and 4 p.m.
Transportation Vice Minister Fan Chih-ku already met the relatives from China on Friday night for a meeting to answer their questions about the disaster, reports said. On Saturday, some of the relatives were asked to identify their deceased relatives at a morgue in Chungli, Taoyuan City.
Traffic restrictions were in place on the No.2 Freeway near the Tayuan District to allow the ceremony to take place in a more solemn environment, reports said.
There were still many questions about the origin of the blaze, possibly a short circuit, and the failure of an emergency exit on the left side of the bus to open.
The disaster, one of the most serious to hit a Chinese tour group visiting Taiwan, has also turned the spotlight on the risk of low-cost tours leading to cutting corners by travel operators and on technical and safety issues with buses.