A woman was killed and 10 people were injured yesterday when a train on the Taichung MRT system hit a crane boom that had fallen onto the tracks.
The incident occurred at 12:29pm at the intersection of Wenxin S Fifth and Wenxin S roads in Nantun District (南屯), near the metro system’s Feng-le Park Station.
A 52-year-old woman surnamed Lin (林), an assistant professor in Providence University’s Department of Law, was found dead, Taichung Fire Bureau Sixth Corp Captain Pan Te-tsang (潘德倉) said.
Photo: CNA
The train ran into the crane boom lying on the rails after it fell more than 30 stories from a nearby construction site and pierced the MRT system’s sound insulation barriers.
Surveillance footage showed the boom falling from the nearly completed structure.
A section of the boom pierced the first car, separate footage taken inside the train showed.
Photo: CNA
The Taichung Fire Bureau transported people to hospitals for treatment for mostly minor injuries, the Taichung City Government said, adding that one of the injured people is Canadian.
The Taichung City Police Department implemented traffic restrictions in the area after the incident.
MRT services between Beitun Main Station and Taichung City Hall continued as usual, with dispatch buses shuttling passengers to and from the Jiuzhangli and High Speed Rail Taichung stations as Taichung Mass Rapid Transit Corp worked to restore full operations to the MRT line.
The Taichung Urban Development Bureau at 1:52pm ordered the immediate cessation of work at the construction site and launched an investigation into the cause of the incident.
Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) told reporters that the company in charge of the construction site, Highwealth Construction Co (興富發建設), would face a hefty fine if it is found to have failed to observe construction safety and the city government would demand compensation from it.
However, the city’s primary concern was to treat the injured passengers, Lu said.
Urban Development Bureau Director Lee Cheng-wei (李正偉) said that it fined the builder, the designer and the construction firm NT$270,000 each, citing contraventions of the Building Act (建築法).
Occupational Safety and Health Administration Director-General Lee Wen-chin (李文進) said that the builder faces a separate fine of NT$300,000 for failing to secure objects in contravention of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法).
Premier Chen Chien-en (陳建仁) asked the Ministry of Labor and the Taiwan Transportation Safety Board to look into the incident and provide the Taichung City Government with all necessary assistance to allow the MRT to resume normal operations as soon as possible, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said.
Highwealth Construction, which dispatched the crew using the crane, said it regretted that its equipment and crew had been involved in an incident resulting in the loss of life.
It would not shy from any legal responsibility for the incident, the company said.
CHAMPIONS: President Lai congratulated the players’ outstanding performance, cheering them for marking a new milestone in the nation’s baseball history Taiwan on Sunday won their first Little League Baseball World Series (LLBWS) title in 29 years, as Taipei’s Dong Yuan Elementary School defeated a team from Las Vegas 7-0 in the championship game in South Williamsport, Pennsylvania. It was Taiwan’s first championship in the annual tournament since 1996, ending a nearly three-decade drought. “It has been a very long time ... and we finally made it,” Taiwan manager Lai Min-nan (賴敏男) said after the game. Lai said he last managed a Dong Yuan team in at the South Williamsport in 2015, when they were eliminated after four games. “There is
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers have declared they survived recall votes to remove them from office today, although official results are still pending as the vote counting continues. Although final tallies from the Central Election Commission (CEC) are still pending, preliminary results indicate that the recall campaigns against all seven KMT lawmakers have fallen short. As of 6:10 pm, Taichung Legislators Yen Kuan-heng (顏寬恒) and Yang Chiung-ying (楊瓊瓔), Hsinchu County Legislator Lin Szu-ming (林思銘), Nantou County Legislator Ma Wen-chun (馬文君) and New Taipei City Legislator Lo Ming-tsai (羅明才) had all announced they
Nvidia Corp CEO Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) yesterday visited Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), as the chipmaker prepares for volume production of Nvidia’s next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) chips. It was Huang’s third trip to Taiwan this year, indicating that Nvidia’s supply chain is deeply connected to Taiwan. Its partners also include packager Siliconware Precision Industries Co (矽品精密) and server makers Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) and Quanta Computer Inc (廣達). “My main purpose is to visit TSMC,” Huang said yesterday. “As you know, we have next-generation architecture called Rubin. Rubin is very advanced. We have now taped out six brand new
POWER PLANT POLL: The TPP said the number of ‘yes’ votes showed that the energy policy should be corrected, and the KMT said the result was a win for the people’s voice The government does not rule out advanced nuclear energy generation if it meets the government’s three prerequisites, President William Lai (賴清德) said last night after the number of votes in favor of restarting a nuclear power plant outnumbered the “no” votes in a referendum yesterday. The referendum failed to pass, despite getting more “yes” votes, as the Referendum Act (公民投票法) states that the vote would only pass if the votes in favor account for more than one-fourth of the total number of eligible voters and outnumber the opposing votes. Yesterday’s referendum question was: “Do you agree that the Ma-anshan Nuclear Power Plant
RSS