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Minggu, 04 April 2021

Railway maintenance worker makes tearful apology over Taiwan train crash - CNA

TAIPEI: A railway maintenance worker whose truck rolled onto the tracks and sparked Taiwan's worst train disaster in recent decades made a tearful apology on Sunday (Apr 4), saying he would cooperate with investigators.

At least 50 people were killed and more than 200 injured in Friday's crash, which sent a packed eight-car train hurtling into the sides of a narrow tunnel near the eastern coastal city of Hualien.

Investigators say the Taroko Express hit a truck on the line moments before it entered the tunnel.

The vehicle had slipped down a steep embankment onto the train tracks. Prosecutors are working on whether the driver either failed to secure the parking brake or the break suffered a mechanical failure.

On Sunday, the driver Lee Yi-hsiang read out an emotional statement to a bank of media cameras.

"I am deeply remorseful and want to express my most sincere apologies," he said, his voice cracking with emotion.

"I will cooperate with the investigation by police and prosecutors to take the responsibility I should take," he added.

Lee, 49, was part of a team who regularly inspected Taiwan's mountainous eastern train line for landslides and other risks.

He was questioned over the weekend by prosecutors and released on bail by a court pending further enquires.

Taiwan Train Accident — In this image taken from video, Lee Yi-hsiang, the driver of the truck that caused the train accident on Saturday, offers a public apology as he is led by police Sunday, April 4, 2021, in Hualien, Taiwan. (Photo: EBC via AP)

As questions mounted over how packed the train was and why there were not fences on that section of the track, transport minister Lin Chia-lung offered his resignation on Sunday.

But it was not accepted by the government, who said he should remain in place until the results of the investigation are known.

READ: Taiwan transport minister accepts responsibility for train crash as questions mount

READ: Taiwan train crash survivors recount horror and loss

EMOTIONAL PRAYERS

Survivors reported that the train driver was honking his horn shortly before the crash but did not - or was unable to - slow down before striking the truck.

The United Daily News newspaper ran a report on Sunday based on initial analysis from footage of the train recorder that showed the truck was on the line before the train went into the tunnel and no slowdown before impact.

The crash has plunged Taiwan into mourning. Some survivors lost entire families and the youngest victim was just four.

A French national and two Americans were also confirmed killed.

Day after train derailment in eastern Taiwan — Relatives of the victims mourn near the site a day after the deadly train derailment at a tunnel north of Hualien, Taiwan April 3, 2021. REUTERS/Ann Wang

On Saturday, around one hundred relatives held an emotional Taoist prayer ceremony near the crash site.

Shaded under a canopy of black umbrellas they wept openly, calling for their loved ones to "come home".

Friday's crash took place at the start of the Tomb Sweeping Festival, a four-day public holiday when many Taiwanese return to villages to tidy the graves of their ancestors.

Taiwan's eastern railway line, a popular tourist draw, winds its way through towering mountains and dramatic gorges before entering the picturesque Huadong Valley.

The last major train derailment in Taiwan was in 2018 and left 18 people dead on the same eastern line.

Taiwan's most deadly rail disaster on record was in 1948 when a train caught fire and 64 people perished.

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2021-04-04 11:43:04Z
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Japan PM to 'consider all possibilities' including fresh lockdown amid fears of new COVID-19 strain - CNA

TOKYO: Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga said on Sunday (Apr 4) that he would expand emergency measures as needed to contain a new wave of COVID-19 infections amid fears over the spread of a new strain.

When asked on a Fuji TV programme whether Tokyo might be added to a list of areas, including Osaka, set to come under lockdown measures from Monday, Suga said: "All possibilities are being considered."

"It doesn't matter specifically where, we will act without hesitation if needed," he said.

Japan is grappling with a new wave of infections ahead of the summer Olympics scheduled to begin in July, with large-scale vaccinations of the general population yet to begin.

On Sunday, 355 new infections were reported in Tokyo, though that is still well below the peak of over 2,500 in January.

Health experts have been particularly concerned about a surge in mutations among those who have recently tested positive around Osaka. The variant, known to have emerged in Britain, is feared to be highly transmissible.

A total of 594 new coronavirus cases were reported in Osaka prefecture on Sunday, a day after a record 666 were confirmed.

READ: Troubling 'Eek' variant found in most Tokyo hospital COVID-19 cases: Report

Variants of the virus have cropped up around the world since last year, including the E484 mutation detected in a growing number of cases in Tokyo, officials say.

Around 70 per cent of coronavirus patients tested at a Tokyo hospital last month carried the E484K mutation, nicknamed "Eek" by some scientists and known for reducing vaccine protection, said public broadcaster NHK.

The "Eek" mutation was found in 10 of 14 people who tested positive for the virus at Tokyo Medical and Dental University Medical Hospital in March, the report said.

For the two months through March, 12 of 36 COVID-19 patients carried the mutation, with none of them having recently travelled abroad or reporting contact with people who had, it said.

Hospital officials were not available to confirm the report, which said that none of the patients there carried the British strain.

BOOKMARK THIS: Our comprehensive coverage of the coronavirus outbreak and its developments

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2021-04-04 09:27:06Z
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Taiwan's transport minister accepts responsibility for train accident as questions mount - The Straits Times

HUALIEN, Taiwan (REUTERS) - Taiwan's transport minister said on Sunday (April 4) he would not shirk responsibility for a deadly train crash even as his resignation offer was rejected amid growing questions over safety lapses that could have contributed to the disaster.

In the island's worst rail accident in seven decades, 51 people have been confirmed dead after a packed express train slammed into a truck near the eastern city of Hualien on Friday, causing it to derail and the front part to crumple.

Speaking at the crash site overlooking the ocean and backed by precipitous mountains, Mr Lin Chia-lung said he would "not avoid" responsibility.

"I am also in charge of minimising the damage caused by the entire accident. After the whole rescue work is completed, I believe I will take the responsibility," he said.

Premier Su Tseng-chang's office said Mr Lin had made a verbal offer to resign on Saturday, but Mr Su rejected it for the time being, saying efforts for now should focus on rescue and recovery.

The truck that the train hit had slid down a sloping road onto the track just outside a tunnel. Officials are investigating the manager of the construction site, Mr Lee Yi-hsiang, whose truck is suspected of not having its brakes properly applied.

Lee had been released on bail, though the high court’s Hualien branch on Sunday rescinded that decision after the prosecutors appealed it, sending the case back to the lower court.

Lee read out a statement apologising for what happened as police took him away from his residence on Sunday, Taiwan media reported.

“I deeply regret this and express my deepest apologies,” he said. “I will definitely cooperate with the prosecutors and police in the investigation, accept the responsibility that should be borne, and never shirk it. Finally, I once again express my sincerest apologies.”

The transport ministry, and the rail administration which comes under it, are facing scrutiny over a number of questions, including why there was no proper fencing at the site and whether too many standing-only tickets were sold.

Deputy Transport Minister Wang Kwo-tsai said late on Saturday the railway administration needed to take a hard look at all these issues, adding that his personal feeling was that "initially it looks like negligence" on the part of the building site contractor.

The railway administration is also without a permanent director after its former chief retired in January. The position is being filled in an acting capacity by another deputy transport minister, Mr Chi Wen-chung.

Mr Wang said Mr Lin was working hard to find the right person to fill the job.

The uncle of the youngest confirmed victim, a five-year-old girl, tearfully told reporters he was still waiting for an apology for the accident.

"I'm so angry," he said.

The government has promised compensation and that it will do everything it can to help survivors and their relatives.

The damaged section of the track will not reopen until April 20 at the earliest, Mr Wang said, though rail traffic continues on a parallel track that runs through another tunnel and was not affected by the accident.

Minister Lin said rescue and recovery work would continue.

Taiwan's transport minister Lin Chia-lung (centre) said he would "not avoid" responsibility.
PHOTO: LIN CHIA-LUNG/FACEBOOK

"We continue to pull out the cabins stuck inside. The third cabin was dragged out last night. We expect to pull out two other cabins today," he added.

The accident occurred at the start of a long weekend for the traditional Tomb-Sweeping Day, when people return home to tend to family graves.

Survivors have described horrible scenes inside the wreck.

Priest Sung Chih-chiang told Reuters what surviving passenger Chung Hui-mei had told him.

"She could not find her daughter. When she yelled, she found her daughter was under the steel panels. She put her effort to move those pieces one by one, but her daughter's voice became quieter and quieter, and then there was no response," he said.

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2021-04-04 06:33:00Z
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Sabtu, 03 April 2021

Myanmar rebel groups back anti-coup protests, condemn junta crackdown - CNA

YANGON: Ten of Myanmar's major rebel groups threw their support behind the country's anti-coup movement on Saturday (Apr 3), fanning fears that a broader conflict could erupt in a country long plagued by fighting between the military and the ethnic armies.

Myanmar has been in turmoil since the military ousted civilian leader Aung San Suu Kyi from power on Feb 1, triggering an uprising that the junta has sought to quell with deadly crackdowns.

According to a local monitoring group, more than 550 people have been killed in the anti-coup unrest, bloodshed that has angered some of Myanmar's 20 or so ethnic groups and their militias, who control large areas of territory mostly in border regions.

READ: Rebel group says more than 12,000 displaced by Myanmar junta air strikes

READ: Five killed in Myanmar protests as junta cracks down on online critics

On Saturday, 10 of these rebel groups met virtually to discuss the situation, condemning the junta's use of live ammunition on protesters.

"The leaders of the military council must be held accountable," said General Yawd Serk, leader of rebel group the Restoration Council of Shan State.

Anti-coup demonstrators in Myanmar continue to come out en masse even as the military crackdown intensifies. (Photo: AFP/STR)

Last week, the junta declared a month-long ceasefire with ethnic armed groups, though exceptions might be made if "security and administrative machinery of the government ... are encroached on".

The announcement did not encompass stopping lethal force against anti-coup demonstrations.

But Yawd Serk said the ceasefire required security forces to halt "all violent actions", including against protesters.

The 10 rebel groups that met online are signatories to a nationwide ceasefire agreement that was brokered by Aung San Suu Kyi's government, which attempted to negotiate an end to the ethnic militias' decades-long armed struggle for greater autonomy.

More than 550 people have been killed in Myanmar?s anti-coup unrest, according to a local monitoring — More than 550 people have been killed in Myanmar's anti-coup unrest, according to a local monitoring group. (Photo: AFP/STR)

But distrust runs deep for the ethnic minorities of Myanmar, and Yawd Serk said the 10 signatories to the nationwide ceasefire would "review" the deal during their meeting.

"I would like to state that the (10 groups) firmly stand with the people who are ... demanding the end of dictatorship," he said.

Last week, a UN special envoy on Myanmar warned the Security Council of the risk of civil war and an imminent "bloodbath".

"NO REASON FOR CONFLICT"

The rebel groups' meeting comes a week after one of them, the Karen National Union (KNU), seized a military base in eastern Karen state, killing 10 army officers. The junta retaliated with air strikes.

The KNU has been a vocal opponent of the military junta and said it is sheltering hundreds of anti-coup activists.

On Saturday, the group condemned the military's use of "excessive force by engaging in non-stop bombing and air strikes" from Mar 27 to 30, which have "caused the deaths of many people including children".

READ: Myanmar junta slammed for child deaths amid anti-coup protests

READ: As ethnic armies unite against coup, war returns to Myanmar's borderlands

"The air strikes have also led to the further displacement of more than 12,000 people," it said.

Junta spokesman Zaw Min Tun said the military has only been targeting KNU's 5th Brigade - which led to the seizure of the military base.

"We had an air strike on that day only," he told AFP.

"We have signed a nationwide ceasefire agreement ... If they follow the NCA, there is no reason for conflict to happen."

Ethnic Karen local media and rights groups have reported multiple bombings and air strikes across the state over recent days.

INFORMATION BLACKOUT

With the junta cutting wifi services, mobile data and imposing a nightly internet blackout that has gone on for nearly 50 days, information flow in the country has been effectively throttled.

Arrest warrants were also issued for 40 popular actors, models and social media influencers - most of whom are in hiding - with authorities accusing them of spreading information that could cause mutiny in the armed forces.

Thousands across the country continued to come out to protest - with at least two cities seeing security forces violently crack down before noon.

In eastern Mon state, a man was shot in the stomach and died on his way to the hospital, while a rescue worker in central Monywa told AFP "two were shot in the head" when facing off against authorities.

READ: Myanmar protesters vow to keep up action as Internet blackout widens

READ: How protesters in Myanmar get around social media and Internet blackouts

Footage of the crackdown in Monywa verified by AFP shows protesters struggling to carry a young man bleeding from his head to safety as gunfire rings out in the background.

Meanwhile, state-run media on Saturday night said a police officer was found dead with his throat slit on the streets of Mandalay - an act by "dishonest people".

At least two Myanmar cities saw security forces violently respond to protests before noon on Apr 3, 2021. (Photo: AFP/Handout)

CNN - which was granted access by the junta - arrived this week with correspondent Clarissa Ward, who was ferried around Yangon in a military convoy.

On Friday, she spoke to two sisters - Shine Ya Da Na Pyo and Nay Zar Chi Shine - who were later detained along with another relative.

Local media reported they had flashed a three-finger salute - a symbol of opposition to the junta - while speaking to Ward.

"We don't know where they've been detained," said a relative of the sisters who did not want to be named.

"Our family is trying our best for their release."

CNN did not respond to a request for comment on the incident.

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2021-04-03 15:32:12Z
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'I tried to help her out, but the debris was too heavy': Taiwan train accident survivors mourn the dead, seek answers - The Straits Times

HUALIEN - "Yun-ru, Mama is here to take you home!" cried out a middle-aged woman as she stood at a nondescript construction site on a mountainside in Taiwan's Hualien county on Saturday (April 3).

She was holding a colourful cardboard tablet with her daughter's name written on it and was supported by her son - the young man also sobbing and holding on to her tightly.

Ms Hsiao Yun-ru's mother and brother were calling for the 22-year-old's soul to return, a day after she perished in a train wreck.

The construction site sits above a cove where the mountains dip inland, facing a single train track leading into a tunnel littered with twisted train carriages. This was the site of the deadly train crash on Friday (April 2) morning that claimed at least 51 lives and injured nearly 200 others.

Around 200 men and women were carrying tablets and bamboo sticks adorned with white cloth bearing the names of the deceased. They huddled under black umbrellas - a common sight at Taiwanese funerals - crying the names of the killed passengers to summon their souls home - a traditional Taoist funeral ritual.

As it began to rain, strips of white cloth fluttered in the breeze. Taoist priests rang bells and chanted prayers amid the heartrending cries.

A woman collapsed. Volunteers rushed to rouse her.

One calm voice rang out: "Hurry up, come on and head home with us! So next time, we can travel here together again!"

The unhurried voice belonged to a man in a green jersey, sporting bandages on one cheek and leaning on a cane. He was still wearing green hospital slippers.

He was the father of six-year-old Yang Chi-chen, whose older sister is still in the intensive care unit due to a cracked skull and brain trauma. Mr Yang had planned a trip down Taiwan's east coast with his two daughters to spend the long Qing Ming Festival holiday together, but the train crash upended his life.

Paramedics recalled Mr Yang's plea to hold his lifeless daughter one more time when she was finally freed from the train's wreckage on Friday.

"It really was like a nightmare for Mr Yang, he was rescued first but kept asking for his children," said Dr Lin Shinn-zong, the superintendent of Hualien Tzu Chi Hospital, where most of the severely injured are being treated.

Mr Yang, the father of six-year-old Yang Chi-chen who died in the train crash. PHOTO: REUTERS

Ms Chang Ya-wen, a nurse at Tzu Chi Hospital, was on duty in the emergency room when a call from the Hualien county government notified the staff of arriving ambulances.

"It helped that we have colour-coded vests for an emergency like this one, so all staff know where patients with varying degrees of trauma are being treated," said Ms Chang. "But it still got scary at one point, when five ambulances drove up at once."

This long weekend was meant for families to reunite and visit their kin's graves to pay respect, but this holiday will now be especially heartbreaking for Ms Chung Hui-mei for years to come.

Travelling home to Taitung for their annual tomb-sweeping trip, Ms Chung, her husband and two children had boarded the 408 Taroko Express only because they missed their original train.

Because the train was already full, they could only purchase standing tickets. Nevertheless, Ms Chung found her family three empty seats in the first carriage, which the children declined.

Just before entering the tunnel, Ms Chung told reporters, she heard the train operator honk many times and then everyone was thrown forward in a violent lurch.

She managed to stand up and went to check on her husband, whose face was "bloodied and mangled". Neither he nor her son responded to her, but her daughter, who was pinned beneath debris and seats, called out weakly.

Families of passengers who passed away in a deadly train crash visit the site of the accident to perform Taoist rituals in Hualien, Taiwan. ST PHOTO: KATHERINE WEI

"I tried to help her out, but the debris was too heavy and others under there said I was hurting them with my efforts," Ms Chung said, her eyes red and swollen.

It wasn't until near midnight on Friday when she was allowed to identify her children and husband at the funeral home, and on Saturday, her entire extended family arrived at her side to gaze at her loved ones' faces before they were zipped up again.

As the investigation into the crash continues, family members wait impatiently for a team of 120 artists to make their loved ones look like their old selves again.

Late Friday night, mortuary makeup artist Chen Hsiu-chiang, 40, began working his magic on a young woman who had passed away in the accident.

"It took me some five hours to complete my work on her," Mr Chen said. Leading a team of 120 artists working in shifts, Mr Chen said it took them over 12 hours to finish restoring 10 bodies, due to the amount of trauma the accident left on the dead.

While the families wait, what now?

Families of train crash victims wait in a tent outside the funeral home in Hualien after identifying their loved ones in the morgue. ST PHOTO: KATHERINE WEI

A volunteer comforts Chung Hui-mei (second from the right) whose husband and two children died in the Taroko Express train crash. ST PHOTO: KATHERINE WEI

Sitting limply in her wheelchair, Ms Chung now demands answers to her loss.

"I want the Transportation Ministry to get to the bottom of this," she said.

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2021-04-03 16:07:51Z
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Jordan's ex-crown prince says he's under 'house arrest' - CNA

AMMAN: Jordan's former crown prince said on Saturday (Apr 3) he is under house arrest, but denied being part of any conspiracy against his half-brother King Abdullah II as he sharply criticised government corruption.

In a video sent to the BBC, Prince Hamzah bin Hussein said the army chief of staff had visited him earlier in the day to tell him: "I was not allowed to go out, to communicate with people or meet with them."

He said a number of his friends had been arrested, his security removed and his Internet and phone lines cut.

But the prince insisted he was not part of a conspiracy and was "not responsible for the breakdown in governance, for the corruption and for the incompetence that has been prevalent in our governing structure for the last 15 to 20 years and has been getting worse".

The BBC said it had been sent the video by Hamzah's lawyer, as news broke that a top former Jordanian royal aide was among several suspects arrested on Saturday.

The army said it had cautioned Hamzah against damaging the country's security, but denied he had been arrested.

"I am not part of any conspiracy or nefarious organisation," Hamzah hit back in the video, adding it was a "sad and unfortunate turn for a country that ... was at the forefront of the region".

He maintained that people were no longer allowed to criticise the authorities or express an opinion "without being bullied, harassed or threatened".

He accused the "ruling system" of believing that "its personal interests, that its financial interests, that its corruption is more important than the lives and dignity and futures of the 10 million people that live here".

"Unfortunately this country has become stymied in corruption, in nepotism, and in misrule and the result has been the destruction or the loss of hope."

Hamzah is the eldest son of late King Hussein and his American wife Queen Noor. He has good relations officially with Abdullah, his half-brother, and is a popular figure close to tribal leaders.

Abdullah had appointed Hamzah crown prince in 1999 in line with their father Hussein's dying wish, but in 2004 stripped him of the title and gave it to his own eldest son Hussein.

The official news agency Petra named Bassem Awadallah, chief of the royal court in 2007-2008, and Sherif Hassan bin Zaid as among an unspecified number of suspects arrested on Saturday.

Sherif is a title given to those close to the royal family in Jordan.

The pair were detained for "security reasons" after a "close" operation, Petra said, quoting a security source.

Saturday's security sweep comes as Jordan prepares to mark 100 years since the new kingdom then named Transjordan was established alongside Palestine under British mandate.

It declared independence in 1946, and despite having little oil wealth, severely lacking water and repeatedly being rocked by wars on its borders, Jordan has survived.

But the centenary will be muted.

Abdullah took the throne in 1999, on the death of his father Hussein, and has used the mottos "Jordan first" and "We are all Jordanians" to cement a national identity.

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2021-04-03 23:15:00Z
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Malaysia is independent, says Hishammuddin who called Chinese counterpart 'elder brother' - CNA

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's foreign minister Hishammuddin Hussein stressed on Saturday (Apr 3) that his country remained independent in foreign policy after some social media users and opposition politicians lambasted him for referring to his Chinese counterpart as his "elder brother".

Hishammuddin, on his first visit to China as foreign minister, had expressed hope that he and Chinese State Councillor Wang Yi would pursue closer ties between the nations, including post-COVID-19 cooperation and fighting the pandemic.

However, he provoked controversy back home when he told his counterpart in a joint press briefing on Thursday: "You will always be my elder brother."

China is Malaysia's largest trade partner, but relations between the two countries have been tested in recent years by Beijing's increasingly assertive foreign policy in the region, particularly its maritime claims in the resource-rich South China Sea, some of which conflict with Malaysia's own claims.

Some Malaysians took to social media to chide Hishammuddin, saying he appeared to be appeasing the global superpower, while opposition leader Anwar Ibrahim demanded the minister retract his comment and issue an apology to the country.

"This is not the language and style that should be used in the world of diplomacy and international relations because it seems to put Malaysia's status as a foreign puppet," Anwar said on Saturday.

"As a country that is neutral and not in favour of any great power in the world, his statement is clearly a form of insult to our own country."

Following the criticism, Hishammuddin said on Twitter that he had said "elder brother" to show respect to Wang Yi, and that the words did not refer to Malaysia's relationship with China.

He said he had been "respecting that Wang Yi is older, and a more senior foreign minister; hence 'elder brother' to me personally".

"Being respectful does not signify weakness," he added.

"Rest assured that Malaysia remains independent, principled and pragmatic in terms of our foreign policy - founded on the values of peace, humanity, justice, and equality."

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2021-04-03 14:05:49Z
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