A man died and a woman was seriously injured yesterday after they were crushed by a trackless tourist train that overturned at the Yilan Green Expo.
The 78-year-old man, surnamed Yu (游), showed no vital signs at the scene and was pronounced dead at the hospital, while his wife, surnamed Lu (呂), was still undergoing treatment for a broken arm as of press time last night.
The 45-year-old driver, surnamed Chen (陳), who has a truck driving license, said he was driving the empty electric train back to the park’s entrance for a battery recharge at about 1:30pm.
Photo: CNA
He said he rang the bell to warn pedestrians after he found that the brakes were malfunctioning.
The train overturned after he tried to avoid hitting the pedestrians and lost control because it was running too fast, he said.
The family of the victims said the train crashed into the couple directly without trying to stop.
They were unable to pull their parents away when the couple failed to dodge the train, they said.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the accident, Yilan County Agriculture Department head Lee Hsin-tai (李新泰) said.
The Yilan County Government said the park train service would be suspended for checks and maintenance until all concerns are addressed.
The Yilan Green Expo said the park would be closed today for safety inspections.
The expo began providing the paid park train service this year, with one red train and one blue train that can carry up to 40 passengers each.
A 10-minute round trip, which costs NT$50, begins at the environment education center at the entrance from 9am every day.
The trains were checked before opening and after closing every day since the expo began a week ago, Lee said.
No irregularities were found, and their maintenance complied with regulations, he said.
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
WEATHER Typhoon forming: CWA A tropical depression is expected to form into a typhoon as early as today, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday, adding that the storm’s path remains uncertain. Before the weekend, it would move toward the Philippines, the agency said. Some time around Monday next week, it might reach a turning point, either veering north toward waters east of Taiwan or continuing westward across the Philippines, the CWA said. Meanwhile, the eye of Typhoon Kalmaegi was 1,310km south-southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, as of 2am yesterday, it said. The storm is forecast to move through central
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
RSS