Police and rail officials denied responsibility yesterday after a truck smashed into a train overpass, damaging the track above and leading to a derailment 30 minutes later.
It was the second rail crash in less than three weeks.
Two people were injured in the accident, and rail traffic between Taichung and Changhwa was paralyzed after the crash yesterday. The Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA, 台灣鐵路局) announced that normal rail service would resume at 6am today.
PHOTO: SUN YI-FANG, TAIPEI TIMES
The passenger train was out of service at the time, but the engineer, conductor and the truck driver were injured in the incident.
The container truck, at around
4:50am, crashed into a rail overpass about 200m from the Taichung Train Station, bending the rail tracks on the bridge. The 4.2m-high truck crashed and stuck under the bridge as it tried to pass under it. The height limit of the bridge is 3.7m.
PHOTO: SUN YI-FANG, TAIPEI TIMES
At 5:20am, as a Tzu Chiang express train crossed the bridge, its nine coaches derailed and careened into one of the station platforms.
"To my shock I discovered that the rail track had deformed into an "S" shape about 100 meters before we reached the bent rail. I pulled the emergency break and the train lost control and derailed. We didn't receive any warning," train engineer Su Shih-shui (蘇石水) said yesterday after he was sent to the hospital.
Su recieved three stitches in his right arm.
The train was out of service when the accident occurred, carrying only a crew of three. The train's conductor, Wu Chin-chuan (吳進傳), and the truck driver Hsu Chieh-shi (徐結士), were sent to Cheng Ching Hospital (澄清醫院) in Taichung City. Although the doctor at the hospital said that the injured were not in critical condition, they were being held for further observation.
The police opened a full investigation into the accident yesterday.
The accident damaged two electric polls, one platform and part of a building at the Taichung Train Station.
"When the accident [with the truck] happened, the police didn't realize it's possible impact on the rail track, so we were not informed," said Chang Hsien-chang (
Seeking to deflect blame for the mishap, Chang said, "With all the damage caused by the derailment -- a result of the violation of traffic regulations by a truck driver -- the TRA is actually the victim in this accident," he said.
The head of Taichung's West District police station sought to dispel any charges of police responsibility, saying, "We were sent to record the accident, not knowing that the railway line was damaged."
Both the West District police station and the Taichung City First Police Station, which informed the former of the accident, told the Taipei Times last night that they didn't know who had initially informed police of the accident.
The TRA yesterday arranged shuttle buses to transfer passengers between Taichung and Changhwa.
Meanwhile, two cars of a construction train loaded with logs derailed at 3.30pm yesterday on a level crossing near Kunyang (
Although no injuries were reported, three southbound trains were delayed because of the incident. Normal service on the that line resumed at 5:30pm yesterday.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi yesterday said that China using armed force against Taiwan could constitute a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, allowing the country to mobilize the Japanese armed forces under its security laws. Takaichi made the remarks during a parliamentary session while responding to a question about whether a "Taiwan contingency" involving a Chinese naval blockade would qualify as a "survival-threatening situation" for Japan, according to a report by Japan’s Asahi Shimbun. "If warships are used and other armed actions are involved, I believe this could constitute a survival-threatening situation," Takaichi was quoted as saying in the report. Under Japan’s security legislation,
RSS