Taiwan authorities are investigating what caused a train carrying 366 passengers to derail Sunday in Yilan County, northeastern Taiwan, killing at least 18 people and injuring 207. The train was traveling between the cities of Shulin and Taitung when it left the tracks just before 5 p.m. local time. Among the dead are eight people from the same family who were traveling back from New Taipei city.
The cause of the accident is still under investigation, but at a news conference Monday the officials said they were looking into speed as a possible factor, as well as a report before the incident that said the air pressure in the train’s brakes was “too low”. It is said that if the air pressure was too low there wouldn’t be enough power to brake the train. Further investigation was needed to determine whether this caused the accident. The train entered service at the end of 2011 and had just finished major maintenance work.
One passenger, who spoke from the hospital, said the train “kept shaking” and “all the chairs were out of place”. The passenger, who only gave her surname as Leong, said the train had stopped many times during the journey. “I felt the speed was very high, and then the train derailed,” she said. Another passenger told that he could hear people screaming before the train came off the tracks. A 43-year-old American woman was among those injured. She has been sent to a local hospital.
An official visited Yilan Monday to meet family members of passengers killed in the accident. She issued statements on social media Sunday night, saying that she was “deeply saddened” by the “major tragedy”. “I mourn those who died, and wish that those injured can quickly get well,” she said. “Let us give support together to those who are providing disaster relief on the front line.”
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