朝鲜巴士发生车祸,数十名中国游客身亡

BEIJING — A bus crash in North Korea has killed 32 Chinese tourists and four North Korean workers, Chinese officials said on Monday.

北京——中国官员周一表示，朝鲜的一场巴士车祸造成32名中国游客和四名朝鲜工人死亡。

The Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs described the crash, which took place on Sunday evening, as a “major traffic accident” but offered few details. Two tourists were seriously injured in the crash and were in critical condition, officials said.

中国外交部将周日晚间发生的这起撞车事件称为“重大交通事故”，但没有提供其他细节。官员称有两名游客在撞车事故中身受重伤，情况危急。

“We would like to express our deep condolences to the compatriots who died from China and the North Korean personnel,” the ministry said in a statement. “We offer our deep condolences to the families of the injured and the victims.”

“我们谨对遇难中国同胞和朝方人员表示沉痛哀悼，“外交部在一份声明中说。 “向伤者和遇难者家属表示深切慰问。”

The crash occurred at a time of intense diplomacy in the region. South Korea’s president, Moon Jae-in, is set to join the North’s leader, Kim Jong-un, on Friday for a summit meeting.

这起事故发生时，该地区正在进行激烈的外交斡旋。韩国总统文在寅预计将于周五与朝鲜领导人金正恩举行峰会。

China, an ally of North Korea for decades, is the main source of tourism to the country. Many Chinese tourists visit North Korea seeking a sense of what China was like before it became one of the world’s largest economies. Day trips across the border are popular, as are visits to the North Korean capital, Pyongyang.

数十年来，中国是朝鲜的盟友，也是朝鲜旅游业的主要来源。许多游客前往朝鲜，希望感受一下中国在成为世界最大经济体之一以前的生活。跨越边境的一日游很受欢迎，访问朝鲜首都平壤也是如此。

Even as tensions over the North’s nuclear program have risen over the past year, the flow of tourists from China has continued. In 2012, the most recent year for which data is available, 237,000 Chinese people visited the country.

尽管过去一年围绕朝鲜核计划的紧张局势有所加剧，但中国游客仍在继续涌入朝鲜。 在2012年，即有数据的最近一年，有23.7万中国人访问了朝鲜。

The circumstances of the crash, which occurred in North Hwanghae province, near the border with South Korea, remained unclear on Monday, and there was limited coverage in China’s state-run news media. An English-language channel affiliated with China Central Television, the state broadcaster, reported on Twitter that the bus had fallen from a bridge. The post was later deleted.

发生在黄海北道靠近韩国边界的这起撞车事件的情况在周一仍不明朗，中国官方新闻媒体的报道十分有限。附属于中国中央电视台的一家英语频道在Twitter上写到，巴士从一座桥梁上坠落。帖子后来被删除了。

Simon Cockerell, general manager of Koryo Tours, an agency in Beijing that organizes travel to North Korea, said that traffic accidents involving tourists were infrequent. He said he had visited the North 169 times but had only been involved in one accident.

高丽旅行社(Koryo Tours)在北京组织赴朝旅游，该公司总经理西蒙·科克雷尔(Simon Cockerell)说，涉及游客的交通事故并不多见。他说他访问过朝鲜169次，但只有一次遇上了事故。

“Certainly, they have problems with infrastructure and that doesn’t help with road safety,” he said. “But it’s not like every time I go there I’m rolling the dice.”

“当然，他们在基础设施方面存在问题，这对道路安全没有帮助，“他说。 “但我不是每次去那里的时候都会掷骰子。”