High school student dead after being hit by bus on pedestrian crossing

A 16-year-old girl died after being hit by a bus on a pedestrian crossing in front of her school in Taichung City this morning, April 30.

According to reports, at around 7:50 am, a group of students had started to cross the road at the entrance of Jiayang High School with a green walk signal, when a speeding bus approaching showed no sign of slowing down.

Most of the students managed to flee back to safety, but a first-year female student was hit, and lost vital signs at the scene of the accident. The girl was declared dead after arrival at the hospital.

The 42-year-old driver of the 165 bus, named Lin, claims that the brakes had failed on the long downhill section, and that considering the safety of the 40 to 50 passengers on the bus, he had no choice but to continue going forward, rather than crashing into the guardrail.

Police are still investigating the cause of the accident.

According to a statement from school administrators, the deceased student, named Zhang, was one of only 2 girls studying in the aircraft maintenance class of the technical and commercial high school. Zhang came from a low income family, and traveled a long way every day, from Dali District to Qingshui District, to attend Taiwan’s only aircraft maintenance high school course, in order to pursue her career aspirations. Zhang always had high grades, and was often top of the class.

Zhang would have been awarded a certificate during this morning’s flag-raising ceremony, the school said.

Taiwan English News is an independent publication with no corporate funding. If you found this article informative, and would like to support my work, please buy me a coffee or support me on Patreon. Subscribe to Taiwan English News for free to receive the latest news via email. Advertising queries are welcome. Share, like, comment below.