One person was killed and seven others injured when their van veered off a road and plunged into a valley in the Alishan Forest Recreation Park in Chiayi County yesterday, the county Fire Department said.
It was the second accident at one of the nation’s most popular tourist destinations in as many days. On Wednesday, four carriages of the Alishan Forest Railway derailed, killing five Chinese tourists and injuring 109 others.
All of the eight people in the van were contract workers hired by the Forestry Bureau to plant trees in the park, according to initial reports from rescue personnel.
A fire department official said the van fell 10m into the valley beside a narrow road in Dapang (達邦) Village at about 6:30am. One passenger had no vital signs when rescuers arrived. Three others suffered serious injuries and the rest suffered minor scrapes.
The cause of the accident is under investigation.
Meanwhile, the Tourism Bureau said the families of five Chinese tourists killed in the derailment could receive a total of NT$6.1 million (US$217,800) in compensation because of insurance policies.
Tourism Bureau official Chen Mei-hsiu (陳美秀) said the liability insurance purchased by travel agencies would pay NT$2 million per person. Another NT$4 million would come from the Forestry Bureau because those entering the Alishan park had also been insured with group accident insurance.
“The Alishan Railway Service buys passenger and public accident liability insurance on behalf of its passengers, although the compensation in these two categories can only be paid after the investigation [into the derailment] is complete,” Chen said.
Injured passengers could also be compensated by their travel agencies and the park, Chen said.
The Council of Agriculture, which oversees the Forestry Bureau, said it had dispatched four experts in dendrology — the study of wooded plants — and ecology to Alishan to determine why a branch of a ring-cupped oak fell, hitting the train and causing the derailment.
The Forestry Bureau said the branch was approximately 1m in diameter and 12.5m long. The oak tree was 8.5m from the railway track.
Forestry Bureau Deputy Director Lee Tao-sheng (李桃生) said a tree branch would normally fall either because it has withered or it has been eaten by worms
“The oak tree is in perfect health and has none of these syndromes,” Lee said.
A non-governmental organization, the Society of the Railway and National Planning, criticized the council for failing to prevent the derailment.
“The Forestry Bureau should inspect the trees along the railway line, set up safety nets and trim the trees,” the society said in a statement. “They are professionals in forestry and should not shun their duty.”
However, Council of Agriculture Deputy Minister Hu Sing-hua (胡興華) said that might be difficult.
“The trees along the railway line are part of its attraction,” Hu said. “It would be difficult to examine every one of the lateral branches.”
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