Guangdong tourist fighting for his life in Taipei hospital

By Wang Anna

Zhang Shiguang, the mainland tourist who was seriously injured when a crane collapsed on a tour bus in Taipei Friday is fighting for his life but his family and doctors have not given up hope, a manager from the travel agency that organized the tour told the Global Times yesterday.

Lu, a manager with China Travel Service Gongbei Port Guangdong Co., said a memorial service was conducted at the hospital yesterday for the two people killed when a construction crane fell 37 stories and sliced through a bus carrying 25 tourists bound for the Taipei 101 building nearby, once the tallest skyscraper in the world.

Three of the tourists, all from Guangdong Province, were injured in the incident. Two, including Zhang, are being treated at the Taipei Medical University Hospital and a third has been released.

A preliminary investigation by the Taipei City Labor Department said the incident was caused by the crane being overloaded and put the blame on the crane operator, the Taipei Times reported yesterday.

“We will help the victims to get compensation from the parties responsible,” Lu said.

The insurance cover purchased by the group could mean payments of up to 600,000 yuan ($88,000) per person, she said.

Hu Wenqiang, general manager of the travel agency, arrived in Taipei Saturday morning and arranged for 15 members of the tour group to leave Taipei later that day. He also arranged for 11 family members of the injured and dead to fly to Taipei Saturday.

Tourism associations from the Chinese mainland and Taiwan have been trusted to handle the aftermath of the incident and it will not affect tourist visits to the province, Li Weiyi, spokesperson for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council said Friday.

“We haven’t seen any effect on our scheduled tour groups visiting Taiwan,” Lu said.