The plane took off from the airport of Yanji, capital of the Korean Autonomous Prefecture of Yanbian, at 7:48 a.m. on Tuesday for Taiwan.

He Jingbin, deputy supervisor-in-chief with the International SOS Beijing Center, who made a special trip to Yanji to prepare the transfer, said that his colleagues at the International SOS Taipei center had briefed him about the flight after the charter landed at Taipei Airport.

All the injured will undergo further medical treatment at Wanfang Medical Science Center in Taiwan, said He. He said the medical specialists accompanying the injured tourists had told him the flight had not caused the passengers any new discomfort and the ones with minor injuries would return home to recuperate after a period of observation at the hospital.

The accident occurred at 9:40 a.m. on September 11 on a highway in Wangqing County of Jilin, when the 20-member Taiwanese tourist group was traveling from neighboring Heilongjiang Province to Jilin. The bus first crashed into the protection rail on the highway and then fell 26 meters into a river.

Two Taiwanese women and the bus driver from the Chinese mainland were killed and the 18 other passengers all injured.

Three of the injured, 69-year-old Yen Wenhsiong, 66-year-old Tseng Mingmei and 60-year-old Yang Suiying, who were in a critical condition, were transferred to Beijing for further treatment.

The fourth injured person, 66-year-old Lee Chunchang, who was confirmed to be in a "good enough condition to take a plane", left for Taiwan on Saturday with his wife's remains. The remains of the other dead tourists were sent back to Taiwan last Friday.

Before going back to Taiwan, the remaining 14 injured received medical treatment in two local hospitals in Yanji.

Charles Van Reenen, medical supervisor-in-chief of the International SOS North Asia Operation, conducted checkups on all the injured Taiwan tourists after he arrived in Yanji City on Monday night.

Mr Reenen concluded that their condition was good enough to allow them to make the flight home where they will undergo further treatment.

The transfer mission was handled by a team of six medical doctors from Beijing, Taiwan and Hong Kong, eight nurses and two helpers.