Taiwan train crashes, killing 34, injuring dozens as country prepares for Ching Ming
- The accident took place near the Toroko Gorge scenic area
- This is a long weekend in the country, marking both the tomb-sweeping festival and Children’s Day
Rescue workers are seen near the site of the accident. Photo: National Fire Agency Department / APA passenger train smashed into a vehicle on its tracks and partially derailed outside a rail tunnel in Taiwan on Friday. Police said at least 34 people were killed and dozens injured.
Survivors were climbing out windows and onto roofs to reach safety in the island’s worst railway disaster in decades.
The crash occurred near the Toroko Gorge scenic area around 9 am on a public holiday, and officials in Hualien county said rescue efforts were continuing. Media reported 350 passengers were on board.
The train came off the tracks in a tunnel. Photo: XinhuaReports said a truck or some type of service vehicle fell from a cliff and landed on the tracks, where a train emerging from a tunnel smashed into it. With much of the train still trapped in the tunnel, escaping passengers were forced to scale doors, windows and roofs to reach safety.
The vehicle apparently hit after the locomotive had emerged, causing the greatest damage to the first five train cars, according to the rescue department of Hualien county.
An unknown number of passengers were injured in the crash. Photo: hsnews.com.tw via APTelevision footage and photos posted by people at the scene on the website of the official Central News Agency showed people climbing out the open door of a railcar just outside the entrance to the tunnel. The inside of one car was pushed all the way into the adjacent one.
The accident came on the first day of a four-day public holiday, including both the Ching Ming grave-sweeping festival, and Children’s Day.
Taiwan’s last major rail crash was in October 2018 when an express train derailed while rounding a tight corner on the northeast coast, killing at least 18 people and injuring nearly 200.
In 1981, a collision in western Taiwan killed 30 people and injured 112 in what was previously its deadliest train accident.