At least 36 dead and many injured after a train carrying 350 people derailed in Taiwan

TAIPEI: At least 36 people were killed and dozens more injured when a train derailed in a tunnel in Taiwan on Friday (April 2) after apparently colliding with a truck, in the island’s worst rail disaster in at least four decades.

The train, an express traveling from Taipei to Taitung and carrying many tourists at the start of a long weekend, derailed north of Hualien in eastern Taiwan, the fire department said.

Images from the accident scene show cars inside the tunnel wrecked by the impact, while others crumpled, preventing rescuers from reaching passengers.

The train was full and carrying about 350 people, the fire department said.

In their latest update on the rescue operation, police said 36 passengers were classified as “out-of-hospital cardiac arrest,” a term for someone who shows no signs of life.

The police statement said 72 people were still trapped inside the train cars, while 61 passengers had been sent to hospital.

The accident happened around 9:30 a.m.

A short video posted by the Central Emergency Operations Center inside the tunnel showed rescuers arriving at the scene and a crooked carriage door.

Another live broadcast on local news network UDN showed at least two undamaged train cars outside the tunnel with rescuers helping passengers escape.

The Taiwan Railway Administration issued a separate statement saying “many” had no signs of life, citing the local fire department.

President Tsai Ing-wen’s office said it had directed hospitals to prepare for a mass casualty event.

“The top priority now is rescuing the stranded people,” his office said in a statement.

Between 80 and 100 people have been evacuated from the train’s first four cars, while cars five through eight have been “warped” and difficult to access, the fire department said.

Police said the accident is believed to have been caused by a construction vehicle sliding down an embankment and hitting the train before entering the tunnel.

“There was a construction vehicle that was not parked properly and it slid onto the train tracks,” Hualien County Police Chief Tsai Ding-hsien told reporters.

“This is our initial understanding and we are clarifying the cause of the incident,” he added.

Footage from the scene showed the rear of a yellow flatbed truck sideways to the side of the train.

“Our train collided with a truck,” said a man in a video broadcast on Taiwanese television, showing images of the wreckage. “The truck fell apart.”

Part of the train was located outside the tunnel, and those in carriages that were still in the tunnel were taken to safety, the Taiwan Railway Administration said.

The footage showed an injured passenger leaving the scene of the accident, head and neck tied, passengers picking up suitcases and bags from a tilted and derailed car, and others walking down debris-strewn tracks.

Some passengers exited the tunnel on the roof of the train, dragging their suitcases and bags, then descended between the carriages to be greeted by rescuers.

“It felt like there was a sudden violent jolt and I found myself falling to the ground,” an unidentified survivor told the net.

“We broke the window to get on the roof of the train to get out.”

The accident occurred at the beginning of a long weekend for the traditional grave-sweeping day hospital.

The mountainous east coast of Taiwan is a popular tourist destination, and the Taipei railway line along the east coast is famous for its tunnels and the route that hugs the coast just north of Hualien, where the accident occurred.

The line connecting Taipei with Hualien was not opened until 1979.

In 2018, 18 people were killed and 175 injured when a train derailed in northeast Taiwan. The driver of the eight-car train was later charged with negligent homicide.

That accident was the worst on the island since 1991, when 30 passengers were killed and 112 injured after two trains collided at Miaoli.

Thirty people also died in 1981 after a truck collided with a passenger train at a level crossing and sent coaches over a bridge in Hsinchu.

In 2003, 17 were killed and 156 injured after a train on the Alishan Mountain Railway sank into a chasm on the side of the track.