TAIPEI—A bus from Hubei Province with 31 people in it was found buried by a landslide on November 23, after it had been missing for a couple of days. Rescue personnel at the scene said there was no possibility of any survivors in the bus.
In a news roundup sent to higher authorities from local media in Hubei Province on the evening of November 21, Lichuan City reported that a local bus was missing on its way back to Lichuan city after it left Shanghai Dazhong Bus Station on November 19.
Local government authorities studied the information and judged from the distance and time of its departure that it was very possible this bus encountered a rock collapse that had occurred that day, but they couldn’t confirm its whereabouts after a search and they also tried unsuccessfully various means of contacting the driver.
At 4:00a.m. on November 23, a bus was found at the scene of a landslide at Yiwan Railway in the Ba Dong Mulong River area, and it was confirmed by the authorities that it was the missing long-distance bus from Lichuan City.
At 8:40a.m. on November 20, a sudden rock collapse occurred at Yiwan Railway Gaoyangzhai tunnel entrance. This accident killed one person, injured another and trapped two workers. The landslide of hundreds of cubic meters of rock caused the complete disruption of National Route No. 318, but a bus was unexpectedly buried alive.
At 11:00a.m. on November 23, Lichuan City confirmed the list of people who were buried alive in the double-decker sleeper car; one driver and 30 passengers, 25 of whom have been identified.
Local media reported that the possibility of survivors is slim as the people on the bus had been buried alive for three days.
Yiwan Railway starts from Yichang City of Hubei Province and extends to Wanzhou District of Chongqing City with a total length of 378 kilometers.
This accident occurred in Badong County, a mountainous area next to the Three Gorges Dam.
