Story highlights Investigators: Driver planned to kill himself due to "family pressure"

The driver set fire to the vehicle after dousing it in gasoline

(CNN) The driver of a bus that crashed in Taiwan in July, killing 26 people, was suicidal and intentionally set the vehicle ablaze before ramming it into a guardrail, state media reported.

The man was at fault for the deadly accident near Taoyuan International Airport in Taipei, law enforcement investigators told Taiwan's Central News Agency.

He planned to kill himself by self-immolation due to "family pressure and because he had been sentenced to prison in a sexual assault case," CNA reported Saturday.

The driver set fire to the vehicle after dousing it in gasoline, killing himself and 25 other people on board.

Of those killed, 24 were tourists from China, including three children. A Taiwanese tour guide also perished in the blaze. </s> At least 32 people were killed when a tour bus crashed near Taipei on Monday night, with television footage showing the bus careening toward a road barrier before flipping on its side.Many of the passengers were elderly, although the age range was early 20s to late 60s, according to city authorities.The trip had been arranged by the Tieh Lien Hua Travel Agency, according to Taiwan's tourism bureau.An official with the agency said the tourists were "likely" all from Taiwan, but that it was still looking at passenger information."We are making efforts to help with the emergency response and will fully cooperate," Chou Chi-hung told Reuters by telephone.Ambulances and fire trucks were lined up along the bend of the road as rescue workers used a crane to lift the battered bus from its wheels, after all the passengers were pulled from the wreckage."Prosecutors need to get on the site," said cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung on live TV.The crash is the latest accident involving tour buses in Taiwan. Earlier this month, another Taiwanese tour bus carrying Chinese tourists crashed into a bridge in southern Taiwan, injuring some passengers.It followed a grisly murder-suicide last year in which 24 Chinese tourists were killed after the driver set their moving bus on fire. </s> TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Investigators were looking into excessive speed as the possible cause of a bus crash in Taiwan that killed 32 people and injured several others in the island’s worst road accident in more than three decades, an official said Tuesday.

The bus flipped over Monday evening while cornering on an expressway ramp in Taiwan’s capital Taipei after taking a tour group to view cherry blossoms.

Highway police spokesman Ma Ling-wen said the speed limit on the ramp was 40 kph (25 mph) but it was not clear how fast the bus had been going. Ma said speed had not yet been ruled out as a cause of the crash.

The bus was carrying 44 people, mainly senior citizens, many of whom were trapped under the crushed wreckage. Rescuers were forced to use a crane to pry the vehicle open.

Thirty-two people, all Taiwanese, were confirmed dead and the remaining passengers were sent to hospitals for treatment. Both the bus driver and tour guide were among the dead.

Taiwan’s Premier Lin Chuan told reporters the government would provide assistance to the bereaved families and conduct a “thorough review” once the immediate work had been completed, the official Central News Agency reported.

The agency said the accident was the worst ever on Taiwan’s highway network and the island’s deadliest since a tour bus crashed into a ravine on a winding mountain road on Oct. 8, 1986, killing 42 people.

The bus belonged to the private Yongli Keyun transit company and had been turning off the No. 5 freeway onto the No. 3 freeway in the eastern Taipei district of Nangang when it crashed at about 9 p.m.

A bus accident in Taiwan last July killed 26 tourists from mainland China, prompting an across-the-board review of tour bus safety. Investigators said the driver in that crash was drunk and had intentionally set the bus alight as it traveled to Taiwan’s main airport. </s> Tour bus crashes in Taiwan, killing at least 32

TAIPEI, Feb 14 (Reuters) - At least 32 people were killed when a tour bus crashed near Taipei on Monday night, with television footage showing the bus careening toward a road barrier before flipping on its side.

Of 44 people on the bus, 30 were pronounced dead at the scene and two died in hospital, the fire department said, adding that 12 people were still being treated in hospitals around Taipei, the capital.

Many of the passengers were elderly, although the age range was early 20s to late 60s, according to city authorities.

The trip had been arranged by the Tieh Lien Hua Travel Agency, according to Taiwan's tourism bureau.

An official with the agency said the tourists were "likely" all from Taiwan, but that it was still looking at passenger information.

"We are making efforts to help with the emergency response and will fully cooperate," Chou Chi-hung told Reuters by telephone.

It was unclear what caused the crash. Local television showed a video of the bus shot from behind flipping onto its side and skidding toward the hillside after it hit a road barrier when negotiating a highway interchange curve.

Ambulances and fire trucks were lined up along the bend of the road as rescue workers used a crane to lift the battered bus from its wheels, after all the passengers were pulled from the wreckage.

"Prosecutors need to get on the site," said cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung on live TV.

The crash is the latest accident involving tour buses in Taiwan. Earlier this month, another Taiwanese tour bus carrying Chinese tourists crashed into a bridge in southern Taiwan, injuring some passengers.

It followed a grisly murder-suicide last year in which 24 Chinese tourists were killed after the driver set their moving bus on fire. (Reporting by Taipei newsroom; Writing by J.R. Wu; Editing by Larry King) </s> At Least 32 People Killed In Tour Bus Crash In Taiwan

A bus packed with elderly tourists flipped onto its side on a highway exit ramp Monday evening in Taiwan near the capital, Taipei, killing at least 32 people, according to multiple news reports.

"The passengers, most of whom were senior citizens, were returning home from a tour of cherry blossoms at Wuling Farm in Taichung," according to Taiwan's Central News Agency. A total of 44 people reportedly were on board the bus, and all are believed to be Taiwanese.

The fire department told Reuters that area hospitals were treating 12 people injured in the crash.

It wasn't immediately clear what caused the vehicle to crash.

"It happened on a curve, so the bus flipped and that could be due to excess speed," Tu Bing-cheng, a Taipei city official, told the AP. "The whole frame of the bus changed shape, got crushed and left no openings."

Photos from the scene show a crane attempting to lift the damaged green-and-yellow bus. Others show bodies lying in rows, covered in white cloth.

Last July, a tour bus carrying visitors from mainland China caught fire, killing all 26 people on board, as The Two-Way reported. An investigation later concluded that the driver was suicidal and lit the fire himself, according to the BBC.

And just this month, Reuters reports that "another Taiwanese tour bus carrying Chinese tourists crashed into a bridge in southern Taiwan, injuring some passengers." </s> A bus carrying Taiwanese tourists on a trip to view cherry blossoms flipped over on an expressway ramp in Taiwan's capital on Monday, killing 32 people and injuring many others, officials said.The bus was carrying 44 people when it crashed Monday evening on the No. 5 expressway, the Taipei city fire department said. It said authorities were still trying to determine the cause of the accident."It happened on a curve, so the bus flipped and that could be due to excess speed," said Tu Bing-cheng, a Taipei city official. "The whole frame of the bus changed shape, got crushed and left no openings."Many passengers were trapped under the crushed bus, and rescue personnel used a crane to pry the vehicle open.Thirty-two people, all Taiwanese, were confirmed dead and the remaining passengers were sent to hospitals for treatment, Tu said.The bus belonged to a private company, he said. It was taking tourists back from a trip to see cherry blossoms when it crashed, Taipei city Deputy Mayor Teng Chia-ji said.A bus accident in Taiwan last July killed 26 tourists from mainland China, raising concern from officials in Beijing about travel safety. </s> Tour bus crashes in Taiwan, at least 32 dead

TAIPEI, Feb 13 (Reuters) - At least 32 people were killed when a tour bus crashed on a highway near Taipei on Monday night, with Taiwanese television footage showing the bus careening toward a road barrier at a highway curve before flipping on its side.

Forty-four people were in the bus, not the previously estimated 45, according to the latest figures from the local fire department.

Thirty were pronounced dead at the scene and two died at the hospital, the fire department said, adding that 12 people were still being treated in hospitals around Taipei, the capital.

Many of the injured were elderly, Taipei City Deputy Mayor Teng Chia-ji said on live local TV.

It was unclear what caused the crash. Local television showed a video of the bus shot from behind flipping onto its side and skidding toward the hillside after it hit a road barrier when negotiating a highway interchange curve.

Ambulances and fire trucks were lined up along the bend of the road as rescue workers used a crane to lift the battered bus from its wheels, after all the passengers were pulled from the wreckage.

"Prosecutors need to get on the site," said cabinet spokesman Hsu Kuo-yung on live TV.

The crash is the latest accident involving tour buses in Taiwan. Earlier this month, another Taiwanese tour bus carrying Chinese tourists crashed into a bridge in southern Taiwan, injuring some passengers.

It followed a grisly murder-suicide last year in which 24 Chinese tourists were killed after the driver set their moving bus on fire. </s> TAIPEI: At least 32 people were killed and more were taken to hospital after a tour bus crashed on a highway in Taiwan on Monday (Feb 13) night.

The bus was carrying 45 people and 13 of them were sent to nearby hospitals, according to the local fire department.

Television footage showed pictures of rescue crews trying to raise the overturned bus on the side of the highway with ambulances and fire trucks lined up along the bend of the road.

Many of the injured were older passengers, local television reported. The deputy mayor of Taipei city said the bus was ferrying them back from a trip to see cherry blossoms in Taichung. It was unclear what caused the accident. </s> Bus returning from a cherry blossom day trip overturns on an exit ramp in Taiwanese capital, leaving at least 32 dead.

At least 32 people have been killed and 12 wounded when a tour bus flipped over on a highway near Taiwan's capital, Taipei, according to officials.

Most of the passengers - senior citizens returning from a day trip to a popular cherry blossom viewing site - were trapped underneath the crushed vehicle on an exit ramp in the Nangang district of eastern Taipei, state media said on Monday.

Rescue personnel used a crane to pry the vehicle open.

"It happened on a curve, so the bus flipped and that could be due to excess speed," said Tu Bing-cheng, a Taipei city official.

"The whole frame of the bus changed shape, got crushed and left no openings."

The survivors, some of whom were seriously injured, were sent to hospitals nearby..

Authorities are still trying to determine the exact cause of the accident. Investigators said driver fatigue could not be ruled out, the Apple Daily reported.

A bus driver working for the travel-agency that sold the tour told a local broadcaster that some colleagues had previously complained about the tiring assignment.

A bus accident in Taiwan last July killed 26 tourists from mainland China, raising concern from officials in Beijing about travel safety.
Authorities find that the July 19 bus crash in Taiwan that killed 26 people was an intentional suicide by the bus driver.