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TAIPEI, Taiwan – Taiwanese investigators estimated that a speeding car caused a derailment in the train and killed 18 people. The train driver was considered a suspected suspect in the accident.
The derailment Sunday, which injured 190 people, occurred in Yilan County, in the northeastern part of the country, as the southbound train entered a curve at a speed of 87 km / hour, according to a government task force commissioned by Prime Minister Lai Ching-te. The eight cars of the train derailed and five overturned.
The Taiwan Railway Administration confirmed Tuesday that the train's driver, dubbed Yu, had manually disabled the automatic train protection system, which ensures that the train does not exceed the safety speeds. The speed at which the train approached the curve was almost twice the safety limit for the Puyuma line.
Yu was placed by a court Tuesday on bail of 500,000 new Taiwanese dollars, or about $ 16,100. He is suspected of negligence, but the investigators also seek to know if the train was experiencing mechanical problems that could be at the origin of the accident.
Sunday's crash was the worst for the Japanese-built Puyuma Express trains, which are the fastest trains serving the east coast of Taiwan. Puyuma trains entered service in 2013.
In the half-hour before the accident, Mr. Yu had reported unusually low pressure from the air compressor controlling the train's electrical system, Lai Sui-chin, deputy director of rolling stock, told reporters on Monday. from the railway agency. The train received a maintenance service at Yilan Station before continuing south.
Citing the ongoing investigation, rail officials Tuesday did not comment on Taiwan's news that light panels on the train control and management system – in fact, the train's central nervous system – were blinking. irregular before the accident.
Sunday's derailment was the deadliest train accident in Taiwan. In 1981, 30 passengers were killed on the west coast of the country. Eight members of a family returning from a wedding were among the victims of the crash on Sunday.
The derailment destroyed a section of the railway leading to the city of Hualien, hit by an earthquake in the summer and hit by a less powerful earthquake on Tuesday. The loss of the railway, at least until it is repaired, may complicate the reconstruction of the city.
