At least 32 Chinese mainland tourists injured in bus crash in Macao, driver arrested

Xinhua News Agency

text

At least 32 tourists from the Chinese mainland were injured, three seriously, on Monday when a tour bus crashed into a building in Macao, and the driver was arrested for suspected dangerous driving, the special administrative region's authorities said.

Macao Health Bureau said 32 people were injured, three of whom were in serious condition. A 46-year-old woman sustained skull fracture and was still unconscious after surgery. Eleven injured tourists have been treated and discharged from the hospital.

According to Macao Public Security Police Force (PSPF), the accident happened when the bus stopped downslope in a street close to the Ruins of St. Paul, one of Macao's famous tourist attractions. A white van rear-ended the bus and the bus driver got off to check the situation.

The accident bus. Photo By: Xinhua

The bus suddenly moved down through the slope without the driver and crashed into a clinic beside the road. Both bus and the clinic were severely damaged.

PSPF Acting Deputy Commissioner Wong Chi Fai said the initial investigation report showed that the driver failed to pull the handbrake before getting off the bus. The driver is a Macao citizen and was arrested for suspected dangerous driving.

According to the spokesman in the press conference, the driver was arrested for suspected dangerous driving. Photo By: Xinhua

According to Macao's tourism authorities, the injured are all from a 44-membered tourist group organized in Shenzhen, southern China's Guangdong province. With a one-day itinerary in Macao, the group had arrived in the morning and planned to leave Macao this afternoon.

According to the tourist member list, some of the members were from Guizhou, Guangdong, Shaanxi, Hunan and Chongqing.

Tourism authorities are keeping touch with the involved tourist agencies and help the families come to visit the injured.

Macao's Land, Public Works and Transport Bureau Director Li Canfeng said the building where the clinic located was severely damaged. Currently six households in that building have moved into an emergency facility.

Chui Sai On visited the injured tourists in Kiang Wu Hospital. Photo By: Yang Yi, Xinhua

Macao SAR Chief Executive Chui Sai On visited the injured tourists in Kiang Wu Hospital on Monday afternoon. He said the SAR government will spare no effort to treat the injured and help their families come to Macao to visit them.

(APD)