TAIPEI (REUTERS, BLOOMBERG, XINHUA) - A Taiwan express train with almost 500 aboard derailed in a tunnel on Friday (April 2) morning, killing at least 48 passengers and injuring dozens in one of the island's worst rail tragedies in 40 years.
The train had apparently hit a truck that slid off a nearby road leading to a construction site.
The Taroko Express was travelling from Taipei to the southeastern city of Taitung when it derailed north of Hualien around 9.30am local time, said the National Fire Agency.
The train, which has eight coaches, was carrying many tourists and people heading home to be with family at the start of a four-day long weekend amid the Qing Ming tomb-sweeping holiday.
Transportation and Communications Minister Lin Chia-lung told reporters at the accident scene that the train was carrying about 490 people – higher than an earlier figure of 350 given by the fire agency.
Taiwan media said that many people were standing as the train was full, and they were thrown about when it crashed, and showed pictures of survivors being led out the tunnel.
"People just fell all over each other, on top of one another,” one female survivor told local television. “It was terrifying. There were whole families there.”
Images of the crash scene showed carriages inside the tunnel ripped apart from the impact, while others crumpled, hindering rescuers reaching passengers, though, as at mid-afternoon, only two people remained trapped in the wreckage.
The 33-year-old train driver was killed in the derailment, United Daily News reported. His assistant, aged 32, also died in the crash.
The official Central News Agency said a truck whose handbrake was not engaged was suspected of sliding off a sloping road into the path of the train. The police had taken the driver in for questioning, the news agency said.
The fire agency showed a picture of what appeared to be the truck’s wreckage lying next to the derailed train and an aerial image of one end of the train sitting on the track next to a construction site.
“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 outside the tunnel and passengers in carriages still in the tunnel had to be led to safety, Taiwan Railways Administration said.
The train was plunged into darkness after it derailed and many passengers lost their sense of direction, EBC News reported. Some of them did not know what to do immediately after the crash while others tried to escape via the roof of the train.
Passengers told EBC News that the train braked several times just before the derailment. On impact, it shook violent and many people were thrown forward.
Images showed an injured passenger being stretchered out of the crash scene, her head and neck in a brace. Passengers were also seen gathering suitcases and bags in a tilted, derailed carriage while others walked out of the tunnel on the roof of the train.
Rescuers found 81 people who were seriously or slightly injured and sent them to several hospitals for treatment, according to Taiwan Railways Administration.
President Tsai Ing-wen has ordered the relevant departments to offer their best rescue efforts, and instructed the transportation ministry as well as Taiwan Railways Administration to deal with impacted traffic arrangements, Presidential Office spokesman Chang Tun-han said in text message.
“It’s regrettable that an accident happened on the first day of holidays, leading to heavy casualties. I share the sorrow with fellow countrymen,” said Ms Tsai.
Taiwan last saw a major train derailment in October 2018, when the Puyuma Express came off the rails in eastern Yilan country, killing 18 and injuring almost 200.
In a statement, Transport Minister Lin said the railway administration had implemented more than 100 items of reform since the Puyuma accident. But they are obviously not enough, he added.
“I will surely shoulder all political responsibility," Mr Lin said.
The American Institute of Taiwan, which handles US ties with the island, expressed its "deepest condolences to the victims, families, and communities impacted by today’s tragic train derailment".
It said on Facebook: "We wish the people of Taiwan peace and comfort during this difficult time."
A Chinese mainland spokesman on Friday expressed condolences and sympathy to the casualties. “The mainland is highly concerned about the rescue progress,” said Mr Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesman for the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council.
Taiwan’s mountainous east coast is a popular tourist destination.
The railway that snakes down from Taipei hugs the coast and is known for its tunnels, in one of which the crash took place. The link to Taipei opened in 1979.
Taiwan’s state-owned railways are generally reliable and efficient, but have had a patchy safety record over the years.
In 1981, 30 were killed in a collision in northern Taiwan, and in 1991 another 30 died in a train crash.
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2021-04-02 10:11:48Z
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