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RESCUE ACTION: Many have been rescued from the train, but the last cars must be difficult for rescue teams to reach. Photo: hsnews.com.tw
A construction vehicle rolling down the track could have caused the train accident that claimed at least 50 lives in Taiwan on Good Friday.
The Taroko Express is said to have derailed nearly 500 passengers in a tunnel in eastern Taiwan on Friday morning local time.
At least 50 people have died, Reuters and AFP report. The AP news agency reports more than 51 deaths, while the Russian agency Tass reports up to 54 deaths.
More than 60 people are said to have been injured in the train accident, which is the deadliest train accident in Taiwan’s history.
– We are working to have more clarity in the course of events, says local police chief Tsai Ding-hsien according to Reuters.
The official CNA news agency reports that a truck that was parked without the parking brake on could have slipped down a steep incline on the train line.
– Our train collided with a truck, says a passenger on Taiwanese television.
Works are being carried out on the road that runs parallel to the railroad. Images from the fire service show the wreckage of a construction vehicle next to the train.
The driver is questioned by the police. The train driver was killed in the accident, local media report.
The number of dead and wounded increases in the morning. Rescue work has been demanding. About 70 were trapped for a long time in the wagons, which are crushed and twisted in the tunnel.
“Rescuing the trapped is our top priority now,” Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said, according to the BBC.
Transport Minister Lin Chia-lung told reporters at the scene that the train had 490 passengers, far more than the fire service’s first figure of 350.
Many had room to stand and were thrown overboard.
– People fell on top of each other and stretched out on top of each other. It was horrible. There were entire families there, a woman tells a local television channel, Reuters news agency reports.
The entire train was heading from Shulin in the new Taipei to Taitung, when it derailed in a tunnel north of Hualien. Several of the eight carriages are said to have collided with the tunnel wall.
– There was a sudden and violent jolt, and I fell to the ground. We broke windows to get on the roof of the carriage, an unidentified woman tells UDN television.
The locomotive and the first car are outside the tunnel. According to CNN, between 80 and 100 people have been rescued from the first four cars of the train.
Due to the power failure, several used their cell phones as flashlights to get out of the tunnel. Passengers climbed onto the roof and walked along the carriages.
The last four have significant material damage and are difficult for rescue teams to reach. According to the railway administration, most of the dead have been found in the last two carriages.
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The accident happened at the beginning of a great weekend of excursion. Taiwanese travel home to visit the graves of friends and family and sacrifice their spirits.
The mountainous east coast of Taiwan is a popular tourist destination. The Taipei railway line is known for its tunnels, where the accident occurred.
In 2018, 18 people were killed and 175 injured when a train derailed in northeast Taiwan. In 1991, 30 people were killed and 112 injured in a train collision in northern Taiwan, according to Reuters.
