Bus accident leaves one dead, 14 injured in Kaohsiung City

One man died at the scene, and 14 people were injured, after a bus crashed into the roof of an underpass designed exclusively for motorcycles in Kaohsiung City yesterday, March 20.

According to reports, at around 8:25 pm Wednesday, the 56-year-old driver named Deng (鄧) drove a double-deck tour bus in the motorcycle lane of a freeway underpass on Shuiguan Road in Renwu District, apparently ignoring height limit warning signs.

Deng, sitting in the lower deck driver compartment, drove the 3.8-meter-tall bus into the entrance of the 2-meter-high underpass. The passenger deck of the bus slammed into the concrete bridge deck, killing an 80-year-old man, named Zhou (周), who was sitting directly above the driver, and injuring 14 other passengers.

Kaohsiung City Fire Department dispatched 15 vehicles and 26 personnel to the scene of the accident.

Police conducted an alcohol breath test and found that Deng was not affected by alcohol. After a preliminary investigation Deng was handed over to the Kaohsiung City District Prosecutor to face charges of professional negligent homicide.

The bus was carrying 27 people at the time of the accident. The passengers were retired employees of Formosa Plastics Corporation who were returning from a day trip to Alishan. The passengers were just one minute away from their destination when the crash occurred.

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