Chinese tourist, 54, declared dead after bus crash in eastern Ontario

A Chinese tourist, who was among 24 people injured when a bus drove off the highway in eastern Ontario on Monday, has died, provincial police said.

The 54-year-old man was pronounced dead in hospital, officers said Tuesday. Four other passengers are still in critical, condition in hospital.

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

OPP are still investigating what led to the crash, Const. Suzanne Runciman said.

“It’s going to take some time to investigate,” Runciman added. “There’s lots of witnesses to talk to and ... there’s mechanical things they need to took into so it’s going to take some time before we can tell you the cause.”

Officials from the Chinese embassy in Ottawa, about 100 km north of the crash site, have visited injured passengers in hospital and have been in touch with their families, spokesperson Yang Yundong said in a written statement.

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 Chinese tourists,” Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Hua Chunying told a press conference Tuesday, a transcript of which was posted to the embassy’s website.