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Tunnel fire in Taiwan kills two, injures 22

08 May 2012 03:56 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Local transportation authorities have revised the death toll of a bus fire to two after the media previously claimed three people were killed in the accident in a tunnel in northeast Taiwan, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

Another 22 were injured, including seven in a serious condition, while hundreds of people were successfully relocated from the tunnel that was briefly engulfed by heavy smoke after the accident, according to a press release from authorities.

Two passenger buses and a car traveling southward collided while attempting to a dodge a stationary van with a punctured tire in the tunnel.

The car caught fire instantly after being hit from behind by one of the passenger buses. The driver and a passenger in the car were killed.

The fire was extinguished about 40 minutes after the accident. Traffic through the tunnel has partially resumed.

The tunnel, which is part of a north-to-south highway linking Yilan to Taipei, is about 55 km to the southeast of the island’s capital.