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The driver of a train that killed 18 people in Taiwan was the subject of an investigation after an investigation revealed that the train had entered a 140 km / h turn. , almost twice the maximum speed allowed for the section.
The train driver is also the subject of an investigation for alleged negligence that he would have disabled the train's automatic protection system that would have resulted in his braking, reported the central agency. Press.
The Puyuma service left the track on Monday afternoon as it headed from the suburbs of Taipei to Taitung, a town on the southeast coast of Taiwan.
It was carrying more than 366 passengers when the eight cars derailed, killing 18 people and nearly 200 wounded, the largest railway disaster on the island for decades.
Most of the dead were in the first car, which rocked, said a government spokesman.
The train, which was six years old, was built to run at 150 km / h to facilitate transportation on rugged parts of the east coast of the mountainous island, but the maximum speed allowed for the section on which it derailed was 74 km / h. ) Trains are designed to tip in turns.
The driver of the train, You Zhen-zhong, 48, was released on bail for T $ 500,000 ($ 16,200) after being arrested for investigation, the Taiwan Railway Authority announced. .
The train data recorder, which includes tracking speed, has been sent to prosecutors for review. But it would take more investigation to determine the cause, said the head of the investigation team, Wu Ze-cheng.
The disaster was the deadliest train accident in Taiwan since the 1981 crash that claimed the lives of 30 people.
The head of the state railway administration, Lu Jie-shen, has proposed to resign, but the Minister of Transport has not accepted this proposal, said the l & # 39; authority of the railways.
