A 69-year-old Taiwanese tourist, who suffered serious injuries in Monday's fatal bus crash in northeast China, is still in a critical condition after being transferred to a Beijing hospital for better treatment.

Yen Wenhsiong underwent an operation on his trachea on Thursday at the China-Japan Friendship Hospital and the operation "went smoothly", according to Gao Haipeng, assistant to the president of the hospital.

"However, Yen is not out of danger due to serious chest injuries, fractures of the ribs and lung damage," Gao said. "We are going all out to save him."

Yen was flown to Beijing on Wednesday night from the Korean Autonomous Prefecture of Yanbian in northeastern Jilin Province on a special plane arranged by the Beijing International SOS Medical Center.

The two-hour flight did not have any negative effects on Yen's condition and he was taken to the China-Japan Friendship Hospital immediately after he arrived in Beijing, said He Jingbin, from the Beijing SOS.

Yen was accompanied by his son who arrived at Yanji, capital of the Yanbian prefecture on Tuesday night.

"We will decide when to send Yen back to Taiwan for further treatment according to his relatives' wishes as soon as his condition improves," said a Beijing SOS official surnamed Wei.

Yen's 60-year-old wife, Yang Suiying, was also seriously wounded in the accident and is receiving treatment in the Yanji-based Yanbian Hospital, said Wei Jiuping, head of the Taiwan Affairs Office of Yanbian prefecture.

The couple were among the 20 Taiwanese tourists involved in a traffic accident that occurred at 9:40 a.m. on Monday on a highway in Wangqing County of Jilin when the tourist group was traveling from Heilongjiang Province to Jilin. Their bus overturned and plunged into a river along the 51-km Laosong Highway.

Two Taiwanese women, 66-year-old Lee Lin Ching-miao and 62-year-old Leu Hsiu-ching, and the bus driver from the Chinese mainland were killed.

Two senior doctors sent by the Ministry of Health arrived at Yanji to join local medical experts in treating the 18 injured.

Family members of the victims have arrived at Yanji and local authorities briefed them on the accident and rescue efforts on Thursday afternoon, said Wei Jiuping.

(Xinhua News Agency September 15, 2006)