A Tzuchiang-class train operating along the South Link Line (南迴鐵路) derailed yesterday after running into a mudslide on the mountain slopes north of the Dawu Tunnel (大武隧道). Fortunately the about 250 passengers on board were not injured.
The train, which left New Zuo-ying (新左營) at 12:25pm yesterday, was traveling toward Hualien. After exiting the Dawu Tunnel in Taitung County at 2:27pm, the driver saw a mound of rubble lying on the tracks and immediately hit the breaks, but the train was unable to stop in time, as it was going at 90kph.
The impact derailed the first car of the train, but damage was not severe because the train had already slowed to 40kph when it hit the rubble, Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA) officials said.
Photo: Chen Fong-li, Taipei Times
After TRA personnel arrived on the scene, they decoupled the first two cars and sent passengers back to Dawu station on the four remaining cars, TRA officials said.
Buses were also dispatched to transfer passengers to Lungsi Station, where they were able to continue on their northbound journey.
The Central Emergency Operations Center yesterday said that days of heavy rain around the nation created by a frontal system converging with the southwest monsoon have so far claimed six lives, injured 11 and left two people missing.
Casualties caused by landslides or flooding were recorded in Nantou County and Greater Taichung, as well as in New Taipei City (新北市) and Taoyuan County, the center said in a press release.
About 7,120 people were evacuated from disaster zones or areas at risk of mudslides around the country, it added.
Although the rain has abated, heavy downpours were still forecast for some areas in central and southern Taiwan, with generally unstable weather expected to continue nationwide, the Central Weather Bureau said.
The public still needs to pay attention to the potential danger from rain-triggered disasters, such as road collapses and falling rocks, it said.
Meanwhile, 285 riverside locations in Greater Kaohsiung, Greater Tainan and Greater Taichung, as well as in the counties of Nantou, Chiayi and Pingtung remained on red alert for mudslides, while yellow alerts were issued by the Council of Agriculture earlier in the day for 398 mudslide-prone spots nationwide.
Agricultural losses throughout the country have reached NT$317.1 million (US$10.57 million) since the rain began on June 9, the council said.
Damage to agricultural produce topped the list of losses, totaling NT$181.6 million, with rice, leafy vegetables and seasonal fruit among the worst-hit.
Among the worst-affected areas were Chiayi County in the south, which suffered estimated losses of NT$93.9 million, Taoyuan County in the north, Nantou County in the center, and Pingtung County and Greater Kaohsiung in the south.
Translated by Jake Chung, staff writer
EUROPEAN TARGETS: The planned Munich center would support TSMC’s European customers to design high-performance, energy-efficient chips, an executive said Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), the world’s largest contract chipmaker, yesterday said that it plans to launch a new research-and-development (R&D) center in Munich, Germany, next quarter to assist customers with chip design. TSMC Europe president Paul de Bot made the announcement during a technology symposium in Amsterdam on Tuesday, the chipmaker said. The new Munich center would be the firm’s first chip designing center in Europe, it said. The chipmaker has set up a major R&D center at its base of operations in Hsinchu and plans to create a new one in the US to provide services for major US customers,
The Ministry of Transportation and Communications yesterday said that it would redesign the written portion of the driver’s license exam to make it more rigorous. “We hope that the exam can assess drivers’ understanding of traffic rules, particularly those who take the driver’s license test for the first time. In the past, drivers only needed to cram a book of test questions to pass the written exam,” Minister of Transportation and Communications Chen Shih-kai (陳世凱) told a news conference at the Taoyuan Motor Vehicle Office. “In the future, they would not be able to pass the test unless they study traffic regulations
GAINING STEAM: The scheme initially failed to gather much attention, with only 188 cards issued in its first year, but gained popularity amid the COVID-19 pandemic Applications for the Employment Gold Card have increased in the past few years, with the card having been issued to a total of 13,191 people from 101 countries since its introduction in 2018, the National Development Council (NDC) said yesterday. Those who have received the card have included celebrities, such as former NBA star Dwight Howard and Australian-South Korean cheerleader Dahye Lee, the NDC said. The four-in-one Employment Gold Card combines a work permit, resident visa, Alien Resident Certificate (ARC) and re-entry permit. It was first introduced in February 2018 through the Act Governing Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及雇用法),
‘A SURVIVAL QUESTION’: US officials have been urging the opposition KMT and TPP not to block defense spending, especially the special defense budget, an official said The US plans to ramp up weapons sales to Taiwan to a level exceeding US President Donald Trump’s first term as part of an effort to deter China as it intensifies military pressure on the nation, two US officials said on condition of anonymity. If US arms sales do accelerate, it could ease worries about the extent of Trump’s commitment to Taiwan. It would also add new friction to the tense US-China relationship. The officials said they expect US approvals for weapons sales to Taiwan over the next four years to surpass those in Trump’s first term, with one of them saying
RSS