The Hualien Branch of the High Court today sentenced the main suspect in the 2021 fatal derailment of the Taroko Express to 12 years and six months in jail in the second trial of the suspect for his role in Taiwan’s deadliest train crash.
Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and which the the Taiwan Railways Administration's (TRA) train crashed into in an accident that killed 49 people and injured 200, was sentenced to seven years and 10 months in the first trial by the Hualien District Court in 2022.
Hoa Van Hao, a Vietnamese migrant worker who was an assistant to Lee, was again found not guilty.
Photo: Taipei Times
The ruling can be appealed.
Before today’s ruling, “the Tears of Taroko,” a group of relatives of the victims, in a statement said the court should convict the two defendants of homicide.
In the first trial, Lee was convicted of negligence causing death and contravening the Government Procurement Act (政府採購法), but was found not guilty of fleeing the scene, while Hoa, who was charged with negligence in vehicle transport safety, was found not guilty.
Prosecutors filed an appeal against the verdict involving six people, including Lee and Hoa, following the first trial.
The families’ statement today said Lee’s reckless behavior showed his negligence of traffic safety and that he did not care about the massive casualties that could follow, allowing the accident to happen.
Lee did not call the police to report the incident and had never intended to help, the statement said, suggesting he should be punished for fleeing the scene of the incident.
As for Hoa, the statement said evidence showed that he cooperated with Lee, who was a contractor for the TRA and conducting maintenance above the track.
The statement described Hoa as a culprit who should also be convicted of homicide and not be allowed to evade responsibility.
The punishment is not proportional, given that 49 people were killed in the accident, the statement said.
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