Taiwan train derailment death toll rises to 48

PBC News: Dozens of people were killed on Friday when a packed train derailed inside a tunnel in eastern Taiwan, the island’s worst railway accident in decades.

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Taiwan’s National Fire Agency said at least 48 people were confirmed dead with 66 others sent to hospital.

Officials said the accident could have been caused by a maintenance vehicle sliding down an embankment and striking the train before it entered the tunnel near the coastal city of Hualien.

“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.

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

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,” it said in a statement.

The accident occurred on Taiwan’s eastern railway line around 9:30 am (0130 GMT).
Pictures published by local newspaper UDN showed the front of the train inside the tunnel had been pulverised into a twisted mesh of metal.