At least two people were killed and four injured when a cargo train derailed and fell off a bridge in central Taiwan.
The train failed to stop at Fengyuan station north of Taichung where it was due to undergo repair work. Instead, it sped past Fengyuan going downhill, south toward Taichung, following what is believed to have been a brake malfunction.
Before the runaway train reached the Taichung station, which is only 10 minutes away from Fengyuan, railway workers shunted the train to a track leading to a buffer stop.
The impact of the train slamming into the buffer destroyed the locomotive and caused four carriages, carrying iron bars for railway tracks, to fall off a bridge, landing on cars 5m below.
Two workers on the train, Hsu Chih-wen (徐志文) and Chen Kun-hsing (陳坤興), were killed on the spot, while another worker, Liang Kuang-lang (梁光郎) was in critical condition as of press time.
The railway authorities said they decided to shunt the train to the buffer in order to avoid a possible crash into another train in Taichung.
The exact cause of the accident remained unclear as of press time, although Huang Te-chi (黃德治), managing director of the Taiwan Railway Administration (TRA), did say that human negligence could be a factor.
Meanwhile, Minister of Transportation and Communications Yeh Chu-lan (葉菊蘭) apologized to the families of the dead and injured. Yeh also promised an investigation and punishment for anyone found to be responsible.
The Taichung District Prosecutors' Office launched an investigation less than three hours after the accident.
Also, three members of the Control Yuan, Hsieh Ching-hui (謝慶輝), Yin Shih-hao (尹士豪) and Ke Ming-mo (柯明謀) are set to inspect the scene of the accident today.
Yesterday's crash was the TRA's first major train accident since Huang replaced Chen Te-pei (陳德沛) as its managing director in October last year. Chen resigned after a spate of five railway accidents in one week.
Chen's resignation was followed by protests from the Taiwan Railway Labor Union over the transportation minister's criticism of the TRA. Yeh said the TRA's habit of acting like a "big boss" had prevented it from improving Taiwan's rail service.
The Taiwan Railway Administration is one of the largest state-run companies in Taiwan and is burdened with a debt of NT$80 billion.
Some of the railway administration's staff have claimed that some employees have become careless about their duties as they are faced with the possibility of being laid off in a downsizing drive aimed at preparing the TRA for privatization.
In the future, the TRA also stands to face stiff competition from the Taipei-Kaohsiung high-speed railway, which is currently under construction.
RSS