Taiwanese investigators continue to search for information in the scene of the explosion in Taoyuan that killed 26 people. (Photo : Getty Images)
Five bottles filled with gasoline was found to be inside the tourist bus that exploded in Taiwan last July 19. Twenty-four mainland tourists, a tour guide and a driver were killed in the incident.
According to the police report, the front section of the bus crashed into a guardrail along the Number 2 Highway and a few minutes from the airport. The tour group came from Liaoning Province.
Prosecutors from the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office found shards of bottle glass after the explosion and concluded that there were five bottles in the bus. It is still unknown why the bottles filled were filled with gasoline because the bus runs on diesel.
Other bus drivers believe that the gasoline was used to scrape off gum from the bus seats and marks on the walls. However, they still think five bottles is too much for that purpose.
"It is not entirely unreasonable," a driver said, "but still an unusually large amount for such a need."
Investigators were also troubled by the jammed bus door, which should have been opened when the smoke was blowing out. However, instead of stopping, the bus ran for another kilometer and a half.
There was another door beside the driver's side that failed to open, and there is still no clue what caused the jam.
Bodies were found at the emergency exit which signified that passengers tried to escape while the bus was ablaze.
The bus explosion raised suspicion that it might be connected on the ongoing tension between Taiwan and China. However, both the Taiwan Office and the Mainland Affairs Council in Beijing showed support for the victims.
Taiwan spokesman Tung Chen-yuan said in a press conference, "Authorities here will do all they can to assist the families of the victims."
