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DONGSHAN CANTON, Taiwan (AP) – Rescuers searched the wreckage on Monday after one of Taiwan's fastest passenger trains derailed in a bend along a popular road from the city. weekend, killing at least 18 people and injuring more than 180 people.
The Puyuma expresser derailed late Sunday afternoon as he turned around a bend, throwing the wagon zigzag with five remaining lying on the sides. There was no immediate word on the cause. Survivors interviewed by Taiwan 's Central News Agency, Central News Agency, said the driver pressed the emergency brakes several times before the train derailed.
Most of the dead were in the first car and it was unclear whether other people were stuck on the train, according to a government spokesman, who spoke of the usual condition of anonymity. .
Some passengers were crushed to death, said Defense Ministry spokesman Chen Chung-chi. "Their car was returned, they were crushed, so they died instantly," Chen said.
Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen went to the Yilan County crash site on Monday morning in the north-east of the island, and said his government had urged the authorities to quickly carry out a investigating the cause of the derailment.
The train was carrying over 360 passengers from the suburbs of Taipei in the north to Taitung, a town on the southeast coast of Taiwan.
Previously, the government had killed 22 people, but the National Fire Agency, citing the Office of the Cabinet Spokesperson, subsequently reduced this number and called into question a miscalculation.
According to reports from local television, passengers allegedly tried to escape through the windows and passers-by would have gathered to help before the arrival of the rescuers.
One of the eight cars rocked to an angle of about 75 degrees, with all his right side destroyed.
Fearing that people would get stuck under the car, firefighters with lights on their helmets peered under, like a crane ready to overturn it. Firefighters were joined by Buddhist soldiers and charity workers who gathered on both sides of the road.
The soldiers removed the bodies to identify them, but at nightfall complicated the relief work.
Through a live stream provided by Taiwan's United Daily News, rescuers were seen carrying away what appeared to be a body wrapped in white plastic away from the site.
The researchers crossed a straight car with flashlights. Search and rescue work was to continue until Monday morning to ensure that all passengers were on board, Prime Minister William Lai told reporters shortly after midnight.
"The underlying cause must be investigated as far as possible to prevent such events from happening again in the future," Lai said. "We will make everything transparent."
Ensuring that rail traffic returns to normal is also a priority, he said.
Most seriously injured people were injured in the head and another was bleeding inside, said Lin Chih-min, deputy director of Luodong Boai Hospital, where four people were in intensive care. The hospital had treated 65 people in total.
The Puyuma was launched in 2013 to handle the rugged topography of the east coast of Taiwan. It is different from the high speed train that runs on the west coast. Puyuma trains run up to 150 kilometers at the time, faster than any other in Taiwan, with the exception of the high-speed train.
The derailed train underwent its last inspection and major maintenance work in 2017, said Lu Chie-shen, director of the Taiwan Railways Administration, at a conference of television press.
Sunday's derailment was at least the third deadly rail crash in Taiwan since 2003.
A tourist train overturned in the southern mountains in 2011 after the fall of a big tree on the rails. Five Chinese visitors were killed.
One train under test ignored a stop sign and crashed into another train in northeastern Taiwan in 2007. Five people were killed.
And in 2003, a train derailed near a mountain station, killing 17 people. Investigators blamed brake failure.
The Taiwanese railway administration bought the Japanese Puyama Nippon Sharyo in 2011 as part of a transaction of 30 billion yen ($ 260 million). The trains of eight cars are designed to tip in turns and have a maximum speed of 150 km / h. The announcement made by the company at the time indicated that the trains were part of an upgrade of $ 1.45 trillion Taiwanese ($ 46 billion) line along the east coast from Taiwan.
Japan is in fierce competition with China, South Korea and European railway suppliers to win contracts abroad, as its already saturated domestic market shrinks.
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Associated Press Editors Yanan Wang in Beijing and Elaine Kurtenbach in Bangkok contributed to this report.
