Hualien prosecutors yesterday questioned four more suspects amid an investigation into a fatal train crash on Friday last week, saying that they are focusing on alleged corruption over public work projects.
Fifty people were killed and more than 200 injured when Taroko Express No. 408 crashed into a crane truck that had rolled onto the tracks, derailed and slammed into the walls of the Cingshuei Tunnel (清水隧道) in Hualien’s Sioulin Township (秀林).
The four additional suspects are Hsiung Teh-yu (熊德育), a construction site superintendent at the Taiwan Railways Administration’s (TRA) Hualien engineering section, Pan Tang-yi (潘堂益), supervising engineer at the section, Lee Chin-fu (李進福), a construction superintendent at United Geotech Inc (聯合大地工程), and Chang Chi Fu-tsai (張齊富財), a labor safety and health inspector at the company.
Hualien prosecutor Chou Fang-yi (周芳怡) said that the four were questioned yesterday and released on bail.
Chang Chi posted NT$500,000 (US$17,583) and Pan posted NT$150,000, while Lee and Hsiung both posted NT$300,000.
Including the four, 10 people are listed as suspects, prosecutors said.
Meanwhile, Agency Against Corruption (AAC) officers have over the past week been gathering evidence to determine whether the suspects have been involved in bribery, collusion between government officials and contractors, financial profiteering, and other contraventions, the agency said.
Its investigation focuses on the Hualien County Government and the TRA, the AAC added.
The construction site where the crane truck was employed, was part of the TRA’s six-year railway safety plan, it said.
The train operator has commissioned work to reinforce slopes next to the tracks on a 51km section of its north link line, the agency said.
United Geotech has won a NT$124.8 million tender for design and construction.
Under United Geotech, the Tung Hsin Construction was listed as the contractor company for the project.
Lee Yi-hsiang, owner of the Yi Hsiang Industry Co (義祥工業社) and Yi Cheng Construction Co (義程營造), was listed as the site manager, while Yang Chin-lang (楊金郎) was listed as the licensed professional engineer supervising the on-site work.
Investigation suggested that Lee and his business partner Lin Chang-ching (林長清), both not qualified for such engineering work, allegedly borrowed the engineering license from Yang and colluded with Tung Hsin Construction for many years on construction projects.
This story has been amended since it was first published.
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