The Ministry of Health and Welfare yesterday outlined emergency services dispatched to the scene of the train derailment in Yilan County on Sunday.
The Puyuma Express No. 6432, carrying 366 passengers, traveling from Shulin Station in New Taipei City to Taitung County derailed at 4:50pm near Sinma (新馬) Train Station, killing 18 people and injuring 190.
Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) and Shih Chung-liang (石崇良), Department of Medical Affairs director-general, arrived in Yilan on Sunday evening to establish a medical command center to coordinate healthcare resources on site and visit hospitals where injured people were taken.
Photo: CNA
The Taiwan Blood Services Foundation reported that blood stocks were sufficient to treat people injured in the incident, Chen said.
The ministry said that injured passengers were taken to 15 nearby hospitals in Yilan, Taipei, Hualien and Taitung.
The bodies of those who were killed were taken to the Suao Branch of Taipei Veterans General Hospital in Yilan for family members to identify, while its Taipei head hospital dispatched healthcare personnel to Suao to assist with treatment, the ministry said.
Four hospitals in Yilan County launched the mechanism for emergency medical healthcare and rescue services for multiple casualties, calling in additional medical staff.
Wang Che-chao (王哲超), director of the ministry’s Public Relations Office, said it asked the Yilan Bureau of Public Health and the Yilan Department of Social Affairs to provide mental healthcare services to family members of those who died.
It also asked the Songde Branch of Taipei City Hospital and the Yuli Branch of Taipei Veterans General Hospital to assist those who were injured as well as their families.
Wang said the National Health Insurance Administration (NHIA) instructed its Taipei and eastern divisions to process cases regardless of whether they provided National Health Insurance documentation amid exceptional circumstances and the NHIA would cover the costs.
A toll-free, 24-hour hotline is available for people emotionally affected by the incident, the ministry said.
The hotline can be reached at 0800-788-995.
UPGRADE: The Kang Ding-class frigate is replacing its Chaparall missiles with Tien Chien II and Hua Yang VLS, which would provide it with long-range, 360° air defense Taiwan plans to produce 1,200 to 1,376 Hai Chien II missiles (海劍二, Sea Sword II) — also known as TC-2N — to serve as the standard air defense system of the navy’s surface combatant fleet, a source said yesterday. Last week, the Hai Chien II, the naval version of the Tien Kung II missile (天劍二, Sky Sword II), completed a live-fire test in waters off the National Chungshan Institute of Science and Technology’s Jiupeng facility (九鵬) in Pingtung County’s Manjhou Township (滿州). The MIM72 Chaparral and other dated air defense missiles that currently arm Taiwanese ships have inadequate range to combat Chinese
REASONS FOR TRAVEL: An assistant professor said that proposed amendments to penalize drivers if they used drugs overseas would not deter people from traveling People who operate a motor vehicle under the influence of marijuana would have their driver’s license revoked, even if they used the substance while overseas, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications said yesterday, citing proposed amendments to the Road Traffic Management and Penalty Act (道路交通管理處罰條例). The amendments would also authorize the government to revoke the licenses of people determined to have used Category 1 or Category 2 narcotics, even if they were not operating a vehicle while under the influence of drugs, as well as ban them from taking the license test for three years, the ministry said. People aged 18 or
HEAVY WEATHER: Typhoon Jangmi is due to crash straight into the Ryukyus as airlines look to shift flights to larger aircraft or cancel flights to Okinawa entirely Taiwan’s international air carriers announced flight adjustments over the weekend as Typhoon Jangmi is forecast to hit the Ryukyu Islands today and tomorrow. The Central Weather Administration (CWA) upgraded Jangmi from a tropical storm to a typhoon at 8am yesterday, with the eye located 580km south of Naha city. It was moving north at 19kph. Today, China Airlines’ CI-120, CI-121, CI-122 and CI-123 flights between Taoyuan and Naha, Okinawa, have been canceled as well as CI-132 and CI-133 between Kaohsiung and Naha. EVA Air’s BR-112, BR-113, BR-186 and BR-185 flights between Taoyuan and Naha are also canceled. Low-cost carrier Tigerair Taiwan canceled IT-230,
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, returned to Taiwan last night after being deported from the US. She is to stand trial in Taiwan for charges involving embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes. The Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said it took her into custody at Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport and would first question her before transferring her to the New Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office. She was arrested upon disembarking a flight from San Francisco that landed shortly before 7pm. Liou absconded to the US in 2019 after jumping bail
RSS