At least 36 people are dead and another 72 injured, the Taiwanese government said when a train partially derailed along Taiwan’s east coast on Friday.
The crash occurred near the Toroko Gorge area at around 9 a.m. local time (0100 GMT/UTC) on what is a public holiday in Taiwan.
The train was traveling to Taitung when it came off the rails in a tunnel just north of the city of Hualien, causing some carriages to hit the wall of the tunnel, the fire department said.
Breaking: Fire department says several feared dead and injured after a train carrying around 350 passengers derailed in a tunnel in Hualien County, Taiwan. (Video via 鄭榮貴 on Facebook) pic.twitter.com/WTyMeoXJQ1
— PM Breaking News (@PMBreakingNews) April 2, 2021
Reports said a truck fell from a cliff above and landed on the tracks, causing the train, which was emerging from a tunnel at the time, to smash into the vehicle which suddenly appeared in its path.
Some media outlets reported 350 passengers were on board.
Authorities added that 72 people were still trapped inside train carriages while 61 passengers had been hospitalized.
source dw.com
