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HUALIEN, Taiwan: Rescue teams began removing wrecked train cars on Saturday (April 3) after Taiwan’s worst rail disaster in decades killed at least 50 people, while flags flew at half mast on a sunken island. in the duel.
Authorities said Friday’s devastating collision was caused when a parked rail maintenance vehicle slid down an embankment and fell onto the tracks.
A train packed with up to 500 people at the start of a long holiday weekend collided with the truck just as it entered a narrow tunnel near the eastern coastal city of Hualien.
Prosecutors said they are seeking an arrest warrant for the truck driver.
READ: Taiwan prosecutors seek arrest warrant for suspect in deadly train accident
Images released by rescuers showed that the front of the train had been pulverized on a twisted metal mesh inside the tunnel. Specialist teams spent hours extracting corpses and survivors, dragging them across the roof of the wrecked train to reveal them.
On Saturday, the rescue operation began removing the wagons that now block half of the only train line that runs down Taiwan’s remote and mountainous east coast.
Teams of specialists spent hours extracting bodies and survivors from the crashed train AFP / Sam Yeh
An AFP reporter at the scene said the most damaged wagons inside the tunnel had not yet been removed.
The Interior Ministry ordered all flags to be lowered to half-staff for three days, while President Tsai Ing-wen was expected to visit the wounded in Hualien hospitals later that day.
READ: Taiwan train was full when it crashed, passengers were on their feet and thrown: Reports
“REALLY DEVASTATING”
The accident on Friday morning took place at the start of the Grave Sweeping Festival, a four-day holiday in which many Taiwanese return to villages to clean the graves of their ancestors.
More than 140 people were rushed to the hospital. A French citizen was among the dead.
Survivors gave terrifying testimony of their ordeal inside the train after the accident.
Many of those on board were standing in the corridors because the route was heavily traveled by those leaving the capital, Taipei, and heading to their hometowns.
“I saw bodies and body parts everywhere, it’s really devastating,” a man surnamed Lo told the Apple Daily newspaper. “Their lives are suddenly gone.”
At least 50 people died in Taiwan’s worst rail disaster in decades. (Photo: AFP / Sam Yeh)
Morgues in Hualien operated all night preparing bodies for devastated family members.
Authorities warned that the death toll could rise because parts of the body have not yet been properly identified.
Investigators are focusing on how the maintenance truck could have slid over the tracks. The driver, who has been questioned by prosecutors, was part of a team conducting regular landslide checks on the mountainous route.
Authorities said they believe he may not have set the parking brake properly.
Apple Daily reported that prosecutors had also raided the offices of the company hired to carry out maintenance work on the road.
READ: Taiwan train accident kills dozens in deadliest railway tragedy in decades
Taiwan’s eastern railway line is a popular tourist attraction on its less populated east coast.
With the help of multiple tunnels and bridges, you make your way through towering mountains and spectacular gorges before entering the picturesque Huadong Valley.
Friday’s crash took place near two of the most famous landmarks on the East Coast: the Tarako Gorge and the dramatic Qingshui Cliffs. A world-class bullet train system also serves the heavily populated western side of the island.
Friday’s accident appears to be one of the worst rail accidents on record in Taiwan.
The last major train derailment in Taiwan was in 2018 that left 18 people dead on the same eastern line. That accident was the worst on the island since 1991, when 30 passengers were killed and 112 injured after two trains collided at Miaoli.
Other major accidents that killed dozens of people occurred in 1981, 1978 and 1961. The deadliest railway disaster on record in Taiwan was in 1948, when a train caught fire and 64 people died.
