YANJI -- A charter plane
carrying 14 Taiwan tourists who were injured in a September 11 bus crash in
northeast China's Jilin Province touched down at Taipei Airport in Taiwan at
1:12 p.m. on Tuesday, said sources with the International SOS Beijing Center.
The plane took off from the airport of Yanji, capital of the Korean
Autonomous Prefecture of Yanbian, at 7:48 a.m. on Tuesday for Taiwan.
He Jingbin, deputy supervisor-in-chief with the International SOS Beijing
Center, who made a special trip to Yanji to prepare the transfer, said that his
colleagues at the International SOS Taipei center had briefed him about the
flight after the charter landed at Taipei Airport.
All the injured will undergo further medical treatment at Wanfang Medical
Science Center in Taiwan, said He. He said the medical specialists accompanying
the injured tourists had told him the flight had not caused the passengers any
new discomfort and the ones with minor injuries would return home to recuperate
after a period of observation at the hospital.
The accident occurred at 9:40 a.m. on September 11 on a highway in Wangqing
County of Jilin, when the 20-member Taiwanese tourist group was traveling from
neighboring Heilongjiang Province to Jilin. The bus first crashed into the
protection rail on the highway and then fell 26 meters into a river.
Two Taiwanese women and the bus driver from the Chinese mainland were killed
and the 18 other passengers all injured.
Three of the injured, 69-year-old Yen Wenhsiong, 66-year-old Tseng Mingmei
and 60-year-old Yang Suiying, who were in a critical condition, were transferred
to Beijing for further treatment.
The fourth injured person, 66-year-old Lee Chunchang, who was confirmed to be
in a "good enough condition to take a plane", left for Taiwan on Saturday with
his wife's remains. The remains of the other dead tourists were sent back to
Taiwan last Friday.
Before going back to Taiwan, the remaining 14 injured received medical
treatment in two local hospitals in Yanji.
Charles Van Reenen, medical supervisor-in-chief of the International SOS
North Asia Operation, conducted checkups on all the injured Taiwan tourists
after he arrived in Yanji City on Monday night.
Mr Reenen concluded that their condition was good enough to allow them to
make the flight home where they will undergo further treatment.
The transfer mission was handled by a team of six medical doctors from
Beijing, Taiwan and Hong Kong, eight nurses and two helpers.
