Unlicensed driver, 7 others injured in downtown Taipei car crash

Taipei, May 23 (CNA) A car driven by a person without a license crashed into a bus and three other vehicles in downtown Taipei Friday, leaving the driver and seven others injured, according to local police.

The incident happened on the southbound-only section of Chongqing South Road, Section 1, near Xiangyang Road, two blocks away from the Presidential Office.

Dash cam footage from a vehicle behind showed a black car speeding through a red light at the Wuchang Street intersection and into vehicles that were stopped ahead of Xiangyang Road at around 2:19 p.m.

The front of the black car was smashed, and the driver, a 78-year-old man who does not have a driver's license, was taken to the hospital along with seven others.

A 69-year-old pedestrian had bone fractures on his right leg, while two scooter riders had abrasions on their arms or legs, according to first responders.

Traffic was backed up to north of Zhongxiao West Road until workers removed the vehicles about an hour later, the Taipei City Police Department's Traffic Division said.

The driver, surnamed Chiu (邱), initially tested negative for alcohol, but further tests will be carried out to confirm the results, the police said.

The police did not have any preliminary theories on why the driver sped through the red light.