26 people, including 24 Chinese tourists, are dead after a tour bus caught fire in Taiwan.
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At least 26 people are thought to have died after a tour bus caught fire near Taiwan’s capital.
A Taiwanese driver and a tour guide whose nationality has not been confirmed were also killed.
The incident occurred on the National Highway No. 2 in the Taoyuan county, located south of Taipei, as the bus was on the way to Taiwan’s worldwide airport, according to Reuters.
Photos from the scene show the bus lodged against the highway’s guardrail, making it impossible to open the door.
Firefighters who arrived on the scene needed 30 minutes to put out the blaze, according to the report.
They had been on their way to Taoyuan airport at the end of their trip.
The fire started near the front of the bus, causing the driver to lose control and slam the bus into the railing, authorities said.
The paper said no one aboard made it off the burning bus.
The fire was extinguished at around 1.20pm.
Chinese tour groups have increasingly visited Taiwan in recent years after a boom in mainland tourism.
The accident was the deadliest involving Chinese visitors to Taiwan since the island opened up to Chinese tourism in 2008, according to Taiwanese government records and reports of previous incidents.
There are fears the industry may be hit after Beijing-sceptic Tsai Ing-wen won the presidency in January.
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TAO spokesman Ma Xiaoguang (馬曉光) said a director-level official from the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits would be among the group.
