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1st LD-Writethru: Driver suspected of homicide in Taiwan tour bus fire

Xinhua, September 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

The driver of a tour bus that caught fire and left 26 people dead in Taiwan on July 19 was drunken and set fire to the vehicle intentionally, local prosecutors said Saturday.

The man splashed gasoline in the vicinity of the driver's compartment before igniting the bus with a lighter, according to the prosecutors.

All the people in the bus, including the driver, were killed when the bus caught fire and crashed into a highway barrier near Taoyuan Airport. They included 23 tourists and a tour guide from the Chinese mainland, the local driver and a local tour guide.

Wang Yi-wen, deputy chief prosecutor of the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office, told the press that since the nature of the case was defined as murder, the families of the Chinese mainland victims could entrust civil compensation issues to representatives in Taiwan.

According to the prosecutors, the driver, identified as Su Ming-cheng, had a habit of drinking alcohol as well as smoking, and he rarely communicated with the tour guides on his bus.

Su was once detained for a period of 25 days on charge of injuring a tour guide after drinking alcohol. In addition, he was sentenced to five years in prison in a court ruling for rape, though the final verdict was not yet given when the bus fire case took place because he decided to lodge an appeal, according to prosecutors.

It was also found that just before the case happened, Su's family members had talked frequently with him, trying to discourage him from committing a suicide. Endi