The driver of the bus carrying 20 Taiwanese tourists which crashed in northeast China's Jilin province on Monday has been blamed for the accident.

An investigation carried out by traffic police in the Korean Autonomous Prefecture of Yanbian said the driver, Li Yong, failed to notice a flashing yellow warning light before crashing into a barrier and plunging 26 meters down a slope into a river.

The accident killed the driver and two Taiwanese women, and injured another 18 tourists.

The two seriously injured tourists, Yen Wenhsiong and Tseng Mingmei, were transferred to Beijing and are still in critical conditions, while the 16 others are receiving treatment in the Yanbian Hopsital in Yanji, capital city of the Korean Autonomous Prefecture of Yanbian, and are all in a stable condition, sources with Yanbian health bureau said.

(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2006)