Cyclist killed by bus while crossing street in Taipei

Taipei, Dec. 16 (CNA) A Taipei city bus struck and killed a woman riding a bicycle across a crosswalk in Zhongzheng District Tuesday evening, police said.

The Taipei City Police Department said it received a call at 6:40 p.m. Tuesday about a bus that had hit a cyclist at the intersection of Chongqing South Road and Zhongxiao West Road, near Taipei Main Station.

A preliminary investigation found that the driver of the No. 223 bus, surnamed Chao (趙), was traveling southbound on Chongqing South Road when his bus struck a cyclist heading eastbound on Zhongxiao West Road near the intersection of the two roads.

After initially yielding to pedestrians at the crosswalk, Chao accelerated and struck a female cyclist as she rode across the crosswalk, police said. It was not clear why he failed to notice her.

The woman -- who several local media reports noted was around 70 years old -- suffered serious injuries, did not have a heartbeat and was not breathing when first responders arrived at the scene, police said.

The woman was taken to National Taiwan University Hospital but was later pronounced dead.

Police said they have ruled out the possibility that Chao had been drunk driving, adding that the cause of the accident remains under investigation.