Head-on crash leaves 3 dead

By Liang Yiwen and Dong Zhen  |   2009-6-3  |     NEWSPAPER EDITION

A TAXI driver and two foreigners were killed and two others were severely injured in a head-on collision between a cab and a bus in Shanghai's Minhang District yesterday afternoon.

The cab driver and two of his four female passengers - who were all South Koreans - died at the scene. The other passengers were in critical condition at Minhang District Central Hospital last night.

The accident occurred around 2pm when a Dazhong Taxi Co vehicle, heading north on Xinzhen Road, swerved to avoid another car that was making a turn at the intersection with Nongnan Road, according to police.

The taxi then lost control and ran into a No. 173 bus that was running in the opposite direction, according ton authorities.

The impact crushed the front end of the taxi, and rescuers had to cut open the vehicle to free the victims. The cab driver suffered severe head trauma. The front of the bus was also extensively damaged, but none of its occupants were injured.

The cab's passengers were South Koreans living in Changning District's Gubei Area who were heading home after visiting a friend in Minhang's Qibao Town, according to a man surnamed Cui who said he was a friend of the victims and was visiting the survivors in the hospital.

He said that the four women had husbands or other relatives living in Shanghai.

Dazhong company officials said they will make preliminary compensation payments to the injured and the families of the dead. The amount was not revealed.