The traffic accident occurred at 9:40 am on a highway in Wangqing County when a 20-member Taiwanese tourist group was traveling from Heilongjiang Province to Jilin.

The bus first crashed into the rail on the highway and then fell 26 meters into a river, said Wei Jiuping, director of the Taiwan Affairs Office of the Korean Autonomous Prefecture of Yanbian.

Two Taiwanese women and the bus driver from the China's mainland were killed. The dead tourists were 66-year-old Lee Lin Ching-miao and Leu Hsiu-ching, 62.

All the 18 injured Taiwanese tourists were transferred to the Yanbian Hospital Tuesday to receive better treatment, said Wei Jiuping.

Twelve out of the 18 people were injured seriously, including a couple who were transferred to the new hospital Tuesday morning and are still in critical condition, Wei said.

Wang Ying, head of the Wangqing Hospital where the 18 received preliminary treatment, said 69-year-old Yen Wenhsiong suffered compound injures while his 60-year-old wife, Yang Suiying, suffered fractures.

The husband underwent surgery at the Wangqing Hospital before the transfer, Wang said.

A special medical taskforce has been working to save the injured people, Wei said.

The county government had informed the families of all the tourists, and relatives of the two dead were expected to arrive in Wangqing on Tuesday night.

The tourist group was on the second leg of a ten-day tour through the three northeastern provinces of Heilongjiang, Jilin and Liaoning.