The driver of the tour bus that caught fire last week, claiming the lives of an entire tour party, was intoxicated at the time of the accident, it was revealed Friday.
Taoyuan district prosecutors said that forensic tests on samples from the driver’s blood, urine and stomach showed he was drunk driving when the tragedy took place. The results gave a blood alcohol level of over one milligram per liter, four times the legal limit.
The driver, together with a local tour guide and all 24 members of a tour party from Liaoning Province in China, died when fire broke out on the bus on July 19. The party was bound for Taoyuan airport to return home to China after an eight-day tour of Taiwan.
The investigation into the tragedy continues.