A 24-member group from China, which includes family members of tourists who were killed or injured in Wednesday’s Alishan Forest Railway train crash, arrived in Taiwan early yesterday.
Immediately after arriving at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport, the group traveled by tour bus to Chiayi County where the crash site is located.
Five people have been confirmed killed and 109 others injured in the train accident. All of those killed and the majority of those injured were Chinese citizens.
Luo Wanfei (駱萬飛), deputy director of the Tourism Administration of Qingdao in Shandong Province, who headed the group, said the relatives of those killed or injured in the accident were hoping to learn more about the situation as soon as possible.
Other groups of the crash victims’ family members were set to arrive in Taiwan from various parts of China later yesterday, tourism sources said.
The accident took place at the 70km mark on the Alishan Forest Railway between the Sacred Tree Station and Alishan Station.
Five Chinese tour groups from Guangdong, Shandong, Sichuan, Henan and Zhejiang provinces were traveling on the eight-carriage train when it was struck by a rotten tree branch.
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