News / Koreas

Tour bus catches fire in South Korea, 10 die

Friday, 14 October 2016 3:42 PM [ Last Update: Friday, 14 October 2016 5:57 PM ]

This grab of footage on October 14, 2016, shows firefighters working at the site of a fire on a tourist bus in Ulsan, South Korea.(Photo by Reuters)

A tour bus has crashed on a highway near South Korea's southeastern city of Ulsan, leaving multiple casualties.

Ten people died and seven were injured when the bus caught fire on the highway, the South Korean Ministry of Public Safety and Security said on Friday.

Highway closed-circuit television footage showed the bus, which was transporting 19 passengers, swerving in seemingly normal traffic and catching fire after hitting the highway guardrail late on Thursday.

Police said on Friday that the driver of the bus, who survived the incident, had been taken into police custody pending further investigation.

Choi Ik-soo, chief of police at Ulju county in Ulsan, told reporters that the bus driver had been arrested on suspicion of involuntary manslaughter.

The passengers on the bus were retirees of South Korea’s Hanhwa Chemical Corp along with their spouses, and were on their way to Ulsan from Daegu airport after taking part in a group tour to China, according to police and local media.

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