Twenty-six people have died after a fire broke out in a tourist bus along the highway to the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport on Tuesday afternoon, July 19, 2016. (Photo provided to China News Service)
(ECNS) -- Twenty-six people died after a tourist bus collided with a road barrier and then caught fire on a highway to Taoyuan International Airport in Taipei, Taiwan on Tuesday.
The bus crashed through the highway guardrail and then burst into a fireball at 12:57 am. The blaze was put out about half an hour later. Taiwan police and firefighters found that no one was able to escape the bus.
Taiwan media also reported that police suspected the coach's emergency exit was not working when the accident occurred.
Victims included 23 tourists and a tour leader from Northeast China's Liaoning Province, a local guide and the driver. Of these from the mainland, eight were male and the rest female, local media reported, including three teenagers, two 13-year-olds and one 12-year-old from the province's Dalian city.
The tourists arrived in Taiwan on July 12 and planned to take a plane back to Liaoning Province this afternoon.
