Landslide in China ’s Hubei Province kills at least 3 Taiwanese tourists

台灣團中國湖北遇劫，至少3人喪生

Tour group of 43 was organized by movie theater association

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – At least three members of a Taiwanese tour group were killed and two were injured when a landslide buried their bus in the Three Gorges scenic area (三峽) of China’s Hubei Province Sunday.

The coach, carrying 43 tourists and two guides, was hit and buried by falling rocks as it was passing through an area part of the city of Yichang (宜昌) Sunday morning, reports said.

The bodies of two men and one woman from Taiwan were found under the rocks, according to reports by the Central News Agency, a man and a woman were injured, while the dozens of other passengers were unharmed and allowed to continue on their voyage by ship on the Yangtze River.

It was later revealed that the tour group was organized by an association of movie theaters, and the deceased included the manager of a movie complex in Kaohsiung named as Wang Hsueh-hung (王雪紅), film critic and radio host Ko Shih-chiang (葛世強), who also served as the marketing manager of a prominent cinema chain, and movie director Lee Chih-chiang (李志強).

Taiwan’s Straits Exchange Foundation (海基會) was going to send officials along with the relatives of the tourists to the site, reports said, while it had contacted the relevant authorities in Beijing to provide assistance.

According to reports, the Yichang area has been hit by repeated torrential rain, affecting more than 2 million residents of the region.

The voyage had been organized by the travel agency Trans Continental (東晟旅行社), based in Taipei, reports said. The group had arrived in China on October 13 and was due to return home on the 19th.