Grim discovery in tourist bus search
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Families of missing mainland tourists arrived in Taiwan Monday. |
Rescuers rappelled down a cliff yesterday trying to trace 20 Chinese mainland tourists whose bus is believed to have tumbled off a coastal road in Taiwan as Typhoon Megi lashed east Asia last week.
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Special report: • Mainland tourists missing in Taiwan |
Rescuers said they have found one body and some body parts in the area, but no definitive identifications had yet been made. Debris from the bus found along the rocky slope suggests the vehicle may have fallen off the road and into the sea more than 300 meters below. Rescuers searched for victims in the water.
Relatives of the missing tourists, from the southern city of Zhuhai, have blamed a Taiwanese travel agency - Taipei-based Chuang Yi Travel - for failing to take necessary precautions when Typhoon Megi passed by the island last Thursday.
Chuang Yi was not available for comment.
Despite record rains and the road's vulnerability to mudslides, Taiwan officials failed to close the highway that winds precariously along the northeastern coast. Multiple mudslides caused by the typhoon stranded vehicles carrying about 400 people, who were eventually rescued.
