2016 Taoyuan bus fire

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2016 Taoyuan bus fire
2016 Taoyuan bus fire is located in Taiwan
Taoyuan
Taoyuan
2016 Taoyuan bus fire (Taiwan)
Location of Taoyuan
Date19 July 2016 (2016-07-19)
Time12:57 (UTC+8)
LocationTaoyuan, Taiwan
Coordinates25°N 121°W / 25°N 121°W / 25; -121
OutcomeAll 26 people on board were killed
Deaths26
Property damageBus destroyed

The 2016 Taoyuan bus fire occurred on the ROC National Road No. 2, in the 2nd Taoyuan City Great Park section. The bus that was involved was carrying Chinese tourists. At 12:57 on July 19, 2016, on State Road at the 2nd West Park section, a bus operated by Red Coral Bus Team, with the license plate number 197-EE, having driven to within 4.2 km of Taoyuan airport, suddenly became on fire and started burning. The bus continued forwards for 2.9 km until it collided with a guardrail on the left side. After the driver swerved the bus to the right, it then collided with the right guardrail, after which tourists on the bus from Dalian walked to the back door to escape, but the door was jammed by the guardrail broken in the crash and could only open 10 cm wide, making escape impossible. Afterwards, a gravel truck driver saw the fire and quickly notified a policeman surnamed Lin. Together, they attempted a rescue by breaking the bus windows but were not successful, and eventually the entire bus was consumed by the blaze, causing all 26 passengers to die. This was the most serious bus accident in Taiwan that occurred in 2016, and also the most serious one since the 2010 Suhua Highway bus accident. BBC, The Guardian, the Wall Street Journal, NHK, Yomiuri Shimbun, CNN, the Daily Mirror, and various international media have made reports. An investigation by the Taoyuan District Prosecutor's Office found out that the bus driver had purposefully crashed after dousing the bus with gasoline and lighting it on fire.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8][9][10][11]

Details[edit]

During a tour at 12:57, the bus was passing through the State Road II, 4.2 km to the west of the Dayuan road section, and a fire appeared at the front of the vehicle. The bus swayed along the left inside lane of the road for quite some time, up to 2.8 or 2.9 kilometers. The bus then suddenly lost control, and the whole vehicle hit a guardrail on the left, then swerved to the right side, crashing into the rail there also. A policeman and a male civilian with hand-held extinguishers started trying to smash windows and rescue youths trapped in the burning vehicle. The fire was extinguished at 13:21, after about half an hour, but because heavy smoke quickly filled the confined space of the vehicle, everyone located inside the vehicle, including Su Mingcheng, the Taiwanese tour bus driver, tour guide Zheng Kun Wen, as well as 24 visitors of mainland Chinese citizenship, had no time to escape, and were killed on the spot either by burning, high temperature exposure, or suffocation on smoke and other toxic gases. Multiple burnt corpses were stacked together at the escape door located behind five seat rows. Despite there being eight escape doors, they all had a built-in lock that passengers did not know how to operate. Also, the rear bus door was jammed by the broken guardrail, and the thick obscuring smoke prevented the timely striking of the safety window's corners. The vehicle was burned, and the fire left only charred skeletons.[12][13][14][15][16][17]

Aftermath[edit]

Investigation[edit]

Initial investigations revealed that the escape door lock had a built-in lock, so you could not push open the door to escape. This is a major reason for fatal accidents in Taiwan. Investigator's initial impression of the cause of the fire was a wire from a short circuit and friction. Further the vehicles transformer voltage, originally 24 volts, had an unauthorized boost to 110 volts. The transformer powered the water dispenser, refrigerator, sockets, etc. Whether or not the fire was due to voltage instability caused by a short circuit was still to be investigated. There were also arguments that because of the tour company was a low-fare low-cost group, and relied on clients shopping to fill commission expenses and control costs, they could not afford to meet the safety standards.[18][19][20][21][22]

On July 29, the driver remained in the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office and test results showed that driver had before suspected of drunk driving. It could not be ruled out of the possibility of self-immolation. The possibility emerged of a murder-suicide by arson.[23][24][25]

In addition, Su Mingcheng also broke the news on October 11, 2013, when guiding a group of mainland tourists. During the tour, in the Hualien City a sexual assault on a female occurred, and the Hualien District Court of First Instance sentenced him to 5 years in prison. He appealed and a second trial occurred on June 24, 2016.[26][27][28][29]

September 10, the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office concluded its investigation, and found Su Mingcheng guilty of premeditated arson and self-immolation. His family had long been aware of his want to commit suicide.[30][31]

Initial Responses[edit]

  • Insurance Claims, Cremation, Settlements: The passengers and tour guide were insured in Taiwan and mainland China, and every deceased person was compensated with approximately NT$5.65 million,[32] but the compensations were later raised to around NT$9.04 million per person.[33] A total of 59 relatives of the mainland Chinese deceased went to Taiwan for one week to deal with the relevant cremations, compensation procedures, and settlements. Out of these 24 victim families, one family was determined to complete legal proceedings,[34] with the rest deciding to sign a settlement agreement.[35][36] On July 29, a public memorial was held in Dalian for some of the victims and their families from Northeastern China.[37]
  • Families of victims from mainland China were among the earliest parties to suspect that this was a case of deliberate murder or arson.[38][39]

Passengers[edit]

Two crew were killed including a tour guide and the driver, who deliberately caused the incidents. The rest of the deceased were mainland Chinese tourists.

Deaths by nationality
Region Number
 Taiwan 2
 Mainland China 24
Total 26

See also[edit]

References[edit]

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  2. ^ 邱奕統、鄭淑婷 (2016-07-19). "國道二號遊覽車火燒車 全車26人均成焦屍". 自由時報. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
  3. ^ "【史上最慘】火燒遊覽車26人罹難 不排除車內飲水機起火". 蘋果日報. 2016-07-19. Retrieved 2016-07-19.
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  7. ^ Archived 2016-07-19 at archive.today（原始連結 已被移除）
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  20. ^ 马雪 (2016). "台湾游览车意外原因初判：电线短路 安全门暗锁未开". www.guancha.cn (in Chinese). Retrieved 2018-04-03.
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  25. ^ 鄭淑婷、周敏鴻、黃佳琳. "開大客車還喝酒 飯碗恐不保 蘇明成想做什麼 眾說紛紜… - 生活 - 自由時報電子報". Retrieved 2018-04-03.
  26. ^ "《新聞內幕》司機身世大曝光 黑五類自焚陸客陪葬". Next Magazine TW (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2018-04-03.
  27. ^ "蘇明成自焚拖人陪葬 竟與黑五類有關". Yahoo News Taiwan (in Chinese). 2016. Retrieved 2018-04-03.
  28. ^ "性侵女導遊判5年、賠90萬 蘇明成疑為此想不開找全車陪葬 - 必PO TV". 必PO TV (in Chinese (Taiwan)). 2016-07-30. Retrieved 2018-04-03.
  29. ^ "曾被蘇明成告賠5萬 警：差點得憂鬱症 | 蘋果日報". 蘋果日報 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2018-04-03.
  30. ^ "中客團火燒車案偵結 司機縱火自殺釀26死 - 社會 - 自由時報電子報". Retrieved 2018-04-03.
  31. ^ "台湾检方：火烧车涉事司机欲寻死家属早知 案发后只字不提". 观察者 (In Chinese). 2016. Retrieved 2018-04-03.
  32. ^ 蔡怡杼. 陸客團火燒車 罹難乘客每位估理賠565萬. 中央通訊社. 2016年7月19日 [2016-07-19].
  33. ^ 鄭國樑. 罹難陸客 每人至少理賠904萬. 桃園. 2016-07-25 [2016-07-26]. （原始内容 存档于2016年7月26日）.
  34. ^ 楊明峰、甘嘉雯、陳麒全、蔡依珍. 罹難陸客家屬 搭機回大連. 桃園: 中國時報. 2016-07-27 [2016-07-27].
  35. ^ 呂筱蟬. 等不到火燒車真相 家屬悲憤離開傷心地. 桃園: 聯合晚報. 2016-07-26 [2016-07-26]. （原始内容 存档于2016年7月26日）.
  36. ^ 邱榆蕙、鄭國樑、張雅婷. 「不得不接受…」陸客家屬 全部答應和解. 桃園: 聯合晚報. 2016-07-26 [2016-07-26]. （原始内容 存档于2016年7月26日）.
  37. ^ 莊舒仲. 火燒車中國大陸罹難家屬 今大連市殯儀館重設靈堂. 中國時報. 2016年7月29日 [2016-07-29] （中文（台灣））.
  38. ^ 林家儀／綜合整理. "為何帶汽油瓶上遊覽車？專業老司機這樣說..." 中時電子報 話題 (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2018-04-03.
  39. ^ "中國評論新聞：桃檢：非故意等陸籍家屬離台才公布司機酒駕". hk.crntt.com. Retrieved 2018-04-03.
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