Chinese tourist dies, 24 injured in Canada bus crash

A 54-year-old Chinese man died in hospital early Tuesday morning after being injured in a tour bus crash in eastern Ontario on Monday.

Four other passengers among the 24 wounded are still in critical, life-threatening condition in the hospital.

The tour bus carrying 37 people including the driver, a guide and 35 Chinese tourists was traveling on Highway 401 between the communities of Brockville and Prescott when it went off the road and hit a rock formation.

The Chinese embassy in Ottawa said in a statement Tuesday that all of the tourists on the bus were Chinese citizens. Officials from the embassy have been to the hospitals to visit the injured people. They and the relevant travel agency have been staying in touch with families.

Chinese Consul in Toronto Song Chenliang said passengers who are able to travel will continue on the tour, while those who require ongoing medical services will fly back to China.

Song said he and his colleagues feel "very directly" responsible for the tourists' well-being and are working "feverishly" to give the survivors the support they need.

According to Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying, Chinese diplomats in Canada have "made clear that the travel agency involved should shoulder its responsibility and properly take care of such matters as medical treatment and compensation" for the injured.

"The Foreign Ministry and our diplomatic missions in Canada will continue to follow the development of the accident and work with relevant departments to make proper follow-up arrangements," Hua added.

The tourists on the bus were from Shanghai, Suzhou, Nantong, Hefei and Ningbo.

Constable Suzanne Runciman said Ontario Provincial Police are still investigating what led to the crash.

"It's going to take some time to investigate," said Runciman. "There's lots of witnesses to talk to and ... there's mechanical things they need to look into, so it's going to take some time before we can tell you the cause."

renali@chinadailyusa.com