The parents of a toddler who was killed by a train on Tuesday afternoon will face charges of criminal negligence, prosecutors said yesterday.
The 16-month old boy was hit after he followed his puppy onto a railway line in Chiayi County.
Chiayi police said the toddler, surnamed Chang, who was just able to walk, managed to get from his parents house to the rail line, a distance of more than 40m.
"The boy's parents will be charged with violating the Children's and Juvenile's Welfare Law (
The law stipulates that parents cannot leave children under the age of six unaccompanied by an adult, Hsiao said.
The train's engineer, surnamed Tai, told police he first saw something on the tracks when he was about 300m away from the object and then realized that it was a small child lying on the tracks.
"I immediately sounded the horn and applied the brakes, but it was too late to stop the train. The train hit the boy as he stood up," Tai told the police.
Police said the toddler died instantly.
The boy's grandfather, who worked for Taiwan Railway for more than 30 years, told police he continued to live with his 46-year old son and the son's family at a Taiwan Railway dormitory facility near the railway after he retired.
The grandfather said his son had been very happy to have the boy -- an only child -- in his middle age.
Police said the boy's grandfather and father were chatting in their yard with neighbors when the accident occurred.
The grandfather told police that he had seen his grandson chase the dog, but he did not follow him.
"I never saw a train make an emergency stop around my home. The first such stop was my family's tragedy," he said.
The boy's mother collapsed after the accident, police said.
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