TAIPEI – The derailment of a passenger train in Taiwan killed at least 50 people and injured more than 180 people on Friday in the deadliest railway incident on the island in at least four decades.
The express train, which was traveling from Taipei and heading south through eastern Taiwan to Taitung, was carrying nearly 500 people, including railway personnel, when it derailed around 9:30 a.m. in a tunnel near the scenic Hualien area. , causing the walls of the tunnel to collide, local authorities said. The train, the Taroko Express, is capable of reaching speeds of about 80 miles per hour.
As of 6 p.m., Saturday, 51 people, including two train conductors, two Americans and a French passenger, had been pronounced dead in the incident, while 188 injured were being taken to hospitals, according to authorities. By Friday night, firefighters had rescued all remaining passengers.
“I share the pain with my compatriots,” Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen said on Friday afternoon. She said Taiwan’s Transportation Safety Board is investigating the cause of the incident and urged the public to refrain from excessive speculation and await the final results of the investigation.
A preliminary investigation released by Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operations Center on Friday indicated that the eight-car train hit a construction vehicle that stopped on its tracks.