Four people were killed and nine injured yesterday morning when a cement mixer truck plowed into 22 vehicles on a downhill section of a road to Yangmingshan (陽明山) in suburban Taipei.
An initial investigation indicated that the truck’s brakes failed and it picked up speed descending Yangde Boulevard Sec 3, colliding with 13 cars and nine motorcycles and causing damage to four houses, police said.
The truck’s driver, Ruan Ying-kuei (阮英貴), 44, was among the three men and one woman killed in the accident, Taipei Fire Department officials said.
Photo: Lu Chun-wei, Taipei Times
Nine fire engines and 12 ambulances were sent to the accident, and the nine injured people were taken to city hospitals.
Surveillance camera footage shows the speeding truck crossing an intersection and traveling south on Yangde Boulevard at about 8:10am and crashing into the vehicles one after another — with some cars lifted meters off the ground — and smashing into parked motorcycles and buildings.
A man surnamed Chiang (江), reportedly the assistant driver of the truck, said he did not know what happened, as he was sleeping when the accident occurred.
Photo: Lu Chun-wei, Taipei Times
Police were questioning Chiang, as video showed him opening the truck door and jumping out of the vehicle a few hundred meters before the truck plowed into oncoming vehicles.
The truck started its journey in New Taipei City’s Tamshui District (淡水) and was heading to a construction site in Taipei’s Shilin District (士林).
The truck was not carrying a load, Chiang said.
Photo: Lu Chun-wei, Taipei Times
A cement mixer truck when not carrying cargo still weighs about 15 tonnes, Shilin Police Precinct officials said, adding that because Yangde Boulevard has many corners drivers have to apply the brakes frequently.
The truck’s brakes might have overheated or its brake cooling ducts might have had a leak, which could lead to the brakes malfunctioning, police said.
Police officials said that the truck was in violation of traffic control regulations, because vehicles weighing more than 6.5 tonnes are prohibited from traveling on Yangde Boulevard on weekdays between 7am and 9am and from 5pm to 7pm, adding that the company that operated the truck might be held liable for the accident.
There have been many crashes on Yangde Boulevard, a major route to and from Yangmingshan National Park (陽明山國家公園.
Taipei City Government data showed 381 crashes leading to 11 deaths and 377 injures reported from 2014 to last year.
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