Train derails in Taiwan, killing at least 51

HUALIEN COUNTY, Taiwan－A train partially derailed in eastern Taiwan on Friday after hitting a truck that had slid down a bank onto the track, killing at least 51 people. With the train still partly in a tunnel, survivors climbed out of windows and walked along the train's roof to reach safety after the deadly railway disaster.

The crash occurred near the Taroko Gorge scenic area on the first day of a long holiday weekend when many people were using Taiwan's extensive rail system. The train had been carrying almost 500 people. Images from the scene showed derailed train cars wedged against the walls of the tunnel; part of the wall of one car had smashed into a seat.

"Many people were crushed under train seats in the collision, and there were other people on top of the seats, so those at the bottom were pressed and crushed and lost consciousness," a passenger with gauze taped to her elbow told Taiwan broadcaster EBC. "At the beginning, they still responded when we called them. But I guess they lost consciousness afterward."

The local fire service confirmed the death toll, which included the train's young, newly married driver, and said all aboard had now been accounted for. More than 100 people were injured, it said.

Both the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits expressed their condolences over the accident.

"We are deeply concerned about the rescue progress," said Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the office, on Friday.

Railways news officer Weng Huiping called the crash Taiwan's deadliest rail disaster.

Weng said a construction truck operated by the railway administration slid onto the track from a work site on the hillside above. No one was in the truck at the time. He said the speed of the train was not known.

The train had only partially emerged from a tunnel, and with much of it still inside, many escaping passengers were forced to scramble out of doors and windows and scale the sides of the train to walk along the roof to safety.

It came off the rails north of the eastern city of Hualien after hitting a truck that had slid off a road from a nearby construction site, Feng Huisheng, a local railways administration official, told reporters.

Feng said the manager of the site, which was stabilizing the mountainside to prevent landslides, visited at around 9 am and stopped his truck in front of the site office.

"At present it is suspected because the vehicle wasn't braked properly, it slid for around 20 meters along the site access road and entered the eastern trunk line," he added.

It was reported by local media that police had taken in the manager for questioning.

The crash came on the first day of the Tomb Sweeping Festival, an annual holiday when people travel to their hometowns for family gatherings and to pay their respects at the graves of their ancestors.

Local officials said the island's railways administration would be required to immediately conduct checks along other track lines to "prevent this from happening again."

Taiwan's last major rail crash was in 2018, when a train derailed while rounding a tight corner on the northeast coast, killing at least 18 people and injuring nearly 200.

Taiwan's extensive rail system has undergone substantial upgrades in recent years, particularly with the addition of a high-speed line connecting Taipei with west coast cities.

Xinhua - Agencies