Taiwan driver in bus crash which killed 23 tourists was drunk, police say

The driver of a tour bus which crashed and burst into flames killing all 26 on board, including 23 Chinese tourists, was driving drunk, investigators in Taiwan said on Friday. He had 1.075 milligrams per litre of breath - four times the legal limit for driving - tests showed. “Since clarifying the whereabouts of the driver before his death, (he was found to have) imbibed alcohol and was determined to have been driving drunk,” chief investigator Wang Yi-wen said. The discovery means the investigation will now focus more on mental and physical state of the driver, identified only by his surname Su, he added.

He was drunk driving – a very severe case of drunk driving

Chief investigator Wang Yi-wen

The crash on July 19 was the deadliest single incident involving Chinese tourists since Taiwan began admitting them to the self-governing island in 2008. It happened as the bus was taking the tourists from China’s northeastern city Dalian to Taipei’s main Taoyuan airport after the group had completed an eight-day trip around the island. Distraught relatives who came to Taiwan to identify the bodies of the victims questioned why none of them were able to escape through the emergency exits when the fire ripped through the bus after it smashed into a safety barrier.

taiwan crash