Tour bus bursts into flames, killing all on board

Tour bus bursts into flames, killing all on board



Investigators inspect a bus carrying tourists from mainland China that crashed and caught fire along an expressway on its way to the airport in Taiwan's city of Taoyuan, July 19, 2016.



TAIPEI, Taiwan -- A tour bus carrying visitors from China burst into flames on a busy highway near Taiwan's capital on Tuesday, killing all 26 people on board, officials said.

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 in a statement.

It said 24 of those on board were visitors from China's Liaoning province who had been scheduled to fly home on Tuesday afternoon. The others killed were the driver and a tour guide, both Taiwanese.

The website of Taiwan's China Times newspaper said that no one aboard made it off the burning bus, and that many of the bodies had been badly charred.


Investigators inspect a bus carrying tourists from mainland China that crashed and caught fire along an expressway on its way to the airport in Taiwan's city of Taoyuan on July 19, 2016.


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 flame after spinning out of control and smashing into the highway's guard rail. However, the exact sequence of events wasn't immediately clear.

Photos from the scene showed flames and thick black smoke pouring from the cab of the bus shortly 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.

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I'm wondering how the entire bus burned and not one single person made it out? Maybe they were asleep, disoriented or unconscious as the vehicle had spun around before striking the guard rail? But, it wasn't overturned it should have been easy to immediately stand and attempt escape before the entire bus caught fire (see video). I'm not sure about Taiwanese bus laws, but in the US, just about all tour buses have emergency levers that opens any of the windows. In fact, when my kids were small, I used to tell my wife to never let them sit by the windows on tour buses because it was so easy to flip the release and the window would swing out like the rear hatch on a hatchback.

Supposedly, eye witnesses said that the above bus had been swaying from side to side. Recalling another video (below) in which a Taiwanese bus crashed, it was obvious that aggressive and unsafe driving with a fully loaded vehicle had caused a bus to fishtail at high speed and lose control, crashing into a wall. This is what happens when inexperienced bus drivers think that they can adroitly handle a bus like they nimbly do, a regular sedan. Unfortunately, inertial forces just don't allow it. I wonder what was going through this driver's mind, the moment he tried to pass the truck by cutting in front of the car, when he was no longer a driver, but had become a passenger, helpless as physics took control of his vehicle? Oh, luckily for the passengers, he was the only one to die in that accident.

Sad...

 

Surprised not one person was able to escape. Terrible way to die. I was planning to go to Taiwan this fall, not sure if doing a tour or not...

 

It's like something out of the movies like Final Destinations or maybe Presumed Accidents! But yeah on a serious note I thought how crazy it was that none survived.

 

I think likely what happened was that no one in the group had the presence of mind to open a window (if possible) and or they were quickly overcome by smoke. The fact that other motorist - passerby were able to arrive to the scene and attempt assistance (the guy smashing the window with his fire extinguisher shows that there was some amount of time before the entire bus was engulfed. Why there wasn't more saved becomes a guessing game at this point.

Having said that, I've been on many, many of those US based, Chinese bus tour trips, where a whole load of mostly Chinese people go along a planned route designed by a Chinese owned company. The buses they hire are usually from a charter company and the drivers can be either very good or in some cases, not so good. Many of them are also very aggressive and purposely speed. Case in point, when I'm riding the fastest thing on the road, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to realize that my vehicle is speeding. Often, these guys speed because if they get to each destination more quickly, they have more time to goof off or take care of personal business.

I certainly hope that relevant authorities (in both Taiwan AND the US) continue to monitor and press for better safety from tour vehicle operators. The last thing that one should worry about while on vacation is dying in the vacation transport vehicle because of some asshole's carelessness.

 

Dang thanks for that info, I will never ever ride one of these tour buses then....Although I've never been for one to go on these to begin with, always rather doing my own thing at my own leisurely speed.

 

I know that thread is rather old, but I just listened to some new information about it and thought people might find it useful. At any rate, the investigation showed that the bus was reportedly afflicted by overloaded electrical outlets as it suddenly caught fire while traveling down the highway. Also, investigators found the left side emergency exit door had an illegal locked installed that likely prevented passengers from escaping. The right side emergency door was apparently wedged up against the roadway's guard rail that the bus had crashed into. They found that the bus had illegal locks on the emergency doors too. Tourists typically purchase and carry a lot of expensive items which they routinely leave on a bus as they tour locations. The bus company likely put those extra locks as an added measure of customer security. But in this case it had a deadly effect.

 

Dang, although honestly why would you bring your expensive stuff when you're traveling....sigh...

 

Well, probably not bring expensive stuff like jewelry, but tourist travel with many electronics, camera equipment and as they travel accumulate a lot of souvenirs. I remember going on many of those Chinese bus tours in the US and by the end of our trip, wind up with a lot of stuff we purchased or collected along the way.

 

Ah yes, I forgot about souvenirs too true.