5 German tourists among victims of bus crash
Source: Agencies |
October 2, 2012, Tuesday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
A BUS carrying mostly German tourists rear-ended a truck and burst into flames on an expressway near Beijing yesterday morning, killing five Germans and a Chinese driver and leaving another 14 passengers injured.
The bus was engulfed in flames and black smoke, and was a charred skeleton of metal by the time the fire had been put out.
The bus, which had Beijing license plates, was on an expressway linking the capital with the neighboring port city of Tianjin when the accident happened at around 8:30am, police said.
The names of the dead have not been released.
Of the 14 people injured, 12 were German and two were Chinese, said a doctor at the People's Hospital in Wuqing District of Tianjin.
He said 11 of the patients were being treated at the hospital, including nine German tourists and the two Chinese individuals. "Their conditions are stable. Most of them suffered burns, fractures or bruises. Three of them are under intensive care."
Three more serious cases, all German nationals, have been transferred to Tianjin Municipal People's Hospital and the First Hospital in the city center for treatment, the doctor said.
Germany's Ambassador to China Michael Schaefer arrived in Tianjin yesterday afternoon to visit the injured tourists.
The tour group had been arranged by the Beijing-based China Youth Travel Service.
The group had arrived in Beijing at around 6am and were traveling to Tianjin, where they were due to visit the First Hospital affiliated to Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the afternoon, said Fu Dechao, the university's German interpreter who was to accompany them.
Fu said he called the tour guide at 8:30am to check on their location, only to find out there was a problem. "I rushed to the hospital to interpret for the patients and doctors,'' he said.
Fu said most of the injured tourists were middle-aged and most were in a stable condition.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
According to government statistics, poorly maintained roads and bad driving habits result in about 70,000 deaths and 300,000 injuries a year in China, where road safety is a serious problem.
The bus was engulfed in flames and black smoke, and was a charred skeleton of metal by the time the fire had been put out.
The bus, which had Beijing license plates, was on an expressway linking the capital with the neighboring port city of Tianjin when the accident happened at around 8:30am, police said.
The names of the dead have not been released.
Of the 14 people injured, 12 were German and two were Chinese, said a doctor at the People's Hospital in Wuqing District of Tianjin.
He said 11 of the patients were being treated at the hospital, including nine German tourists and the two Chinese individuals. "Their conditions are stable. Most of them suffered burns, fractures or bruises. Three of them are under intensive care."
Three more serious cases, all German nationals, have been transferred to Tianjin Municipal People's Hospital and the First Hospital in the city center for treatment, the doctor said.
Germany's Ambassador to China Michael Schaefer arrived in Tianjin yesterday afternoon to visit the injured tourists.
The tour group had been arranged by the Beijing-based China Youth Travel Service.
The group had arrived in Beijing at around 6am and were traveling to Tianjin, where they were due to visit the First Hospital affiliated to Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine in the afternoon, said Fu Dechao, the university's German interpreter who was to accompany them.
Fu said he called the tour guide at 8:30am to check on their location, only to find out there was a problem. "I rushed to the hospital to interpret for the patients and doctors,'' he said.
Fu said most of the injured tourists were middle-aged and most were in a stable condition.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
According to government statistics, poorly maintained roads and bad driving habits result in about 70,000 deaths and 300,000 injuries a year in China, where road safety is a serious problem.
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