TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The driver of the tour bus that crashed Tuesday (March 16) claims the vehicle's brakes failed, causing the vehicle to collide with a wall on a mountainous northern road, killing six passengers and injuring 39.
On Tuesday afternoon, a tour bus slammed into a retaining wall at the 115-kilometer mark of the Suhua Highway, near Dong'ao in Yilan County. The force of the collision opened a huge hole in the side of the bus, sending many seats and their occupants flying onto the pavement below.
When first responders arrived on the scene, passengers could be heard crying for help from the wreckage. A number of the passengers were found to have serious head wounds and bone fractures.
Hole on side of bus (Facebook photo)
Several were sitting on the shoulder and waiting for medical treatment. Of the 45 passengers, six suffered fatal injuries, while the remaining 39 sustained injuries ranging from minor to serious.
When police arrived, they found that the 49-year-old driver, surnamed Yu (游), was fully conscious and ambulatory. He told them that as the bus exited a tunnel, it dipped down a steep incline, and the brakes were unresponsive when he tried to apply them.
He claimed the bus then hurtled out of control until it sideswiped a retaining wall, ripping open its left side, before careening into a guardrail and finally coming to a stop. However, 46.7-meter skid marks were found at the scene, indicating that the brakes had in fact been applied, reported FTV.
Yu standing next to driver's seat after crash. (Facebook photo)
One passenger said that the bus suddenly started accelerating and that when it entered a curve, it spun off the road and crashed into the wall. The witness said that after a huge hole was torn in the bus, several people flew into the roadside ditch.
Lotung Pohai Hospital said that the driver had suffered a chest fracture and abrasions on his face, hands, and right shin but that his injuries are not considered life-threatening. According to doctors, Yu said: "I blame myself and worry about the well-being of the passengers."
The bus was built in 2018, according to a preliminary investigation by the Directorate General of Highways. The vehicle had just completed a safety inspection in January.
Since becoming certified to drive tour buses in 2000, Yu had never incurred any violations, reported EBC. He had not recently worked overtime, as he had logged 3 hours and 19 minutes of driving the day of the accident and 4 hours and 47 minutes the previous day.
