Prosecutors find ‘abnormal’ rear exit in ill-fated bus

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/07/19
By: Bien Chin-feng and S.C. Chang

Taipei, July 19 (CNA) Prosecutors and fire experts found late Tuesday that an “abnormal” rear exit of the burning bus may have caused the deaths of all 26 people on board earlier that day.

Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office and forensic experts said they had to use tools to rip open the left rear door of the tour bus that carried 24 Chinese passengers, in addition to the bus driver and a Taiwanese tour guide. All perished in the fire near Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport.

The investigators noted that the exit door could have been deformed by the fire, so they were not yet ready to come to a conclusion as to why the passengers were not able to escape.

As many as nine people were piled up close to the rear exit door, so they would not rule out the possibility that the bus riders were so panicked they were unable to open the emergency exit, costing them their lives.

Meanwhile, they did not speculate on the cause of the fire on the bus, saying they have to inspect the remaining structure of the bus before developing a theory on the possible source of ignition and fire.     [FULL  STORY]