Jumat, 02 April 2021

At least 36 dead, many injured after train carrying 350 people derails in Taiwan - CNA

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

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

Images of the crash scene show carriages inside the tunnel ripped apart from the impact, while others crumpled, hindering rescuers reaching passengers.

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

In their latest rescue operation update, police said 36 passengers were classified as "out of hospital cardiac arrest" - a term for someone showing no signs of life.

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

taiwan train derail (1)
A packed train derailed in a tunnel in eastern Taiwan on Apr 2, 2021, at the start of a long holiday weekend. (Photo: Facebook/林銘鋒)

The accident occurred at about 9.30am.

A brief video released by the Central Emergency Operation Center inside the tunnel showed rescuers arriving on the scene and one twisted carriage door.

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

Taiwan Train Accident
Screengrab from a video released by hsnews.com.tw of passengers climbing out of a derailed train in Hualien County in eastern Taiwan, Apr 2, 2021. (Photo: hsnews.com.tw via AP)
Taiwan Train Accident
Screengrab from a video released by hsnews.com.tw of passengers climbing out of a derailed train in Hualien County in eastern Taiwan, Apr 2, 2021. (Photo: hsnews.com.tw via AP)

Taiwan Railways Administration issued a separate statement saying "many" were without signs of life, citing the local fire department.

President Tsai Ing-wen's office said she had ordered hospitals to prepare for a mass casualty event.

"The top priority now is to rescue the stranded people," her office said in a statement.

Taiwan Train Accident
A packed train derailed in a tunnel in eastern Taiwan on Apr 2, 2021, at the start of a long holiday weekend. (Photo: AP)
taiwan train derail
A packed train derailed in a tunnel in eastern Taiwan on Apr 2, 2021, at the start of a long holiday weekend. (Screengrab: Photo/林銘鋒)

Between 80 to 100 people have been evacuated from the first four carriages of the train, while carriages five to eight have "deformed" and are hard to gain access to, the fire department said.

Police said the accident was believed to have been caused by a construction vehicle sliding down an embankment and striking the train before it entered the tunnel.

"There was a construction vehicle that didn't park properly and slid onto the rail track," 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.

Pictures from the scene showed the back of a yellow flatbed truck on its side next to the train.

"Our train crashed into a truck," one man said in a video aired on Taiwanese television, showing pictures of the wreckage. "The truck came falling down."

Part of the train was situated outside the tunnel, and those in carriages still in the tunnel were being led to safety, Taiwan's railway administration said.

taiwan train
A packed train derailed in a tunnel in eastern Taiwan on Apr 2, 2021, at the start of a long holiday weekend. (Photo: Facebook/林銘鋒)
taiwan train
A packed train derailed in a tunnel in eastern Taiwan on Apr 2, 2021, at the start of a long holiday weekend. (Photo: Facebook/林銘鋒)

Images showed an injured passenger being stretched out of the crash scene, her head and neck in a brace, passengers gathering suitcases and bags in a tilted, derailed carriage and others walking along the tracks littered with wreckage.

Some passengers walked out of the tunnel on the roof of the train, trailing their suitcases and bags behind, then climbed down between carriages to be greeted by rescuers.

"It felt like there was a sudden violent jolt and I found myself falling to the floor," an unidentified female survivor told the network.

"We broke the window to climb to the roof of the train to get out."

Taiwan train derailment
(Image: AFP)
taiwan trail derail
A packed train derailed in a tunnel in eastern Taiwan on Apr 2, 2021, at the start of a long holiday weekend. (Photo: Facebook/林銘鋒)

The accident occurred at the start of a long weekend for the traditional Tomb Sweeping Day hospital.

Taiwan's mountainous east coast is a popular tourist destination, and the railway line from Taipei down the east coast is renowned for its tunnels and route that hugs the coast just north of Hualien where the crash occurred.

The line connecting Taipei with Hualien was only opened in 1979.

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

That crash was the island's worst since 1991, when 30 passengers were killed and 112 injured after two trains collided in Miaoli.

Thirty people were also killed 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 died and 156 were injured after a train on the Alishan mountain railway plunged into a chasm at the side of the track.

Let's block ads! (Why?)


https://news.google.com/__i/rss/rd/articles/CBMib2h0dHBzOi8vd3d3LmNoYW5uZWxuZXdzYXNpYS5jb20vbmV3cy9hc2lhL3RhaXdhbi10cmFpbi1jYXJyeWluZy0zNTAtcGVvcGxlLWRlcmFpbHMtdHJ1Y2stcmVzY3VlLXR1bm5lbC0xNDU0MzY5NNIBAA?oc=5

2021-04-02 06:22:30Z
52781480270852

Tidak ada komentar:

Posting Komentar