1 dead, 7 injured as Nantou shuttle bus plunges off cliff (update)

Taipei, March 9 (CNA) One person died and seven were injured Monday after a shuttle bus traveling through a forest recreation area in Nantou County drove off a mountain road and plunged about 20 meters into a valley, local authorities said.

The Nantou County Fire Department said it received a report at 12:15 p.m. about a bus carrying eight people that had crashed while touring the Sun Link Sea Forest Recreation Area in Zhushan Township.

All eight people on board -- including the driver, five members of a family surnamed Wu (吳), and a couple surnamed Chen (陳) and Lai (賴) -- were taken to hospitals.

A 66-year-old man surnamed Chen was found in out-of-hospital cardiac arrest and later pronounced dead after emergency treatment at Chu Shang Show Chwan Hospital.

He had suffered a roughly 10-centimeter laceration to the back of his head and abdominal bruising, hospital officials said.

Lai, who along with her husband often visited the scenic area, sustained multiple abrasions but remained conscious after the accident.

According to Nantou Christian Hospital, among the Wu siblings, a 56-year-old man suffered multiple injuries, including a suspected hemothorax, a liver laceration and a hip fracture, and was transferred to Changhua Christian Hospital for further treatment.

A 58-year-old woman from the family was treated and later allowed to return home.

The driver, surnamed Wang (王), was taken to the Ministry of Health and Welfare's Nantou Hospital with multiple abrasions and admitted for observation.

Park management said the bus departed the recreation area's visitor center around noon and was traveling toward the Songlong Rock Waterfall when it apparently scraped a cliff face and lost control before tumbling down the mountainside.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation.