A crowded train derailed Friday, April 2, in the east of the island of Taiwan, in a tunnel, causing a large number of deaths.
If the railway police first reported 36 passengers in “Cardiac arrest before their arrival at the hospital” – a term used to designate a person showing no sign of life – the local police, reported by AP, mentions 34 people who died on Friday morning.
The rescue operations management center specified that rescuers had to intervene inside the tunnel where four wagons, difficult to access, were heavily damaged. A short video of the management center shot inside the tunnel shows rescuers arriving at the scene and a door warped by the violence of the shock.
A long holiday weekend
The accident happened on Taiwan’s eastern rail line at around 9:30 a.m. (3:30 a.m. in Paris) near the coastal city of Hualien. The eight-car train linked Taipei to the city of Taitung (southeast of the island) and carried some 350 passengers, the rescue center said.
The accident happened at the start of a long public holiday weekend when Taiwan’s roads and railroads are usually crowded. Taiwan’s Eastern Railway is usually a popular tourist attraction located along the coastline, a beautiful area. By borrowing multiple tunnels and bridges, it winds through imposing mountains and very deep gorges before descending the valley of Huadong.