Flags at half mast in Taiwan after at least 50 die in train accident

Flags were at half mast in Taiwan on Saturday, and were set to stay that way for three days, to mourn the at least 50 victims of a fatal train accident a day earlier.

At least 50 people were killed when a train collided with a truck and derailed in eastern Taiwan on Friday, officials said, noting that the death toll may rise as recovery efforts continue.

The Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) said late on Friday that the derailment in Hualien County involved a maintenance truck which slid from a slope near a construction site above the railway.

The head of an eight-carriage train with 492 passengers and four crew members travelling from Taipei to eastern Taitung County hit the vehicle shortly before entering a tunnel, officials said.

Prosecutors in Hualien were seeking an arrest warrant for a construction site manager believed to have failed to engage the vehicle’s brake properly, state-run Central News Agency reported on Saturday.

Prosecutors began questioning the man late on Friday but had to stop when he became too emotional, the agency reported.

The Taiwan government late on Friday revised the death toll, bringing it down from at least 51 to at least 50 due to a counting error.

The TRA on Saturday named 44 of the victims, which included young children and a 27-year-old French man, as authorities sought to identify the other bodies.

Official statistics released on Saturday suggests that at least 178 people were also injured in the accident. Forty of the injured would have to remain in hospital, including four patients in intensive care.

Deputy Minister of Transportation and Communications Wang Kwo-tsai told a news conference on Saturday that the lack of a safety fence around the construction site, as required by the contract, was a huge management mistake.

The TRA on Saturday said it would review its ticket policy as 120 passengers had standing tickets when the derailment occurred on the first day of a four-day break for Taiwan’s annual tomb-sweeping tradition, which sees many Taiwanese people return home to pay tribute to their ancestors and clean up family tombs.

The operator on Saturday began to remove damaged carriages stuck in the tunnel.

Taiwan President Tsai ing-wen on the same day visited injured people and victims’ family in Hualien, as she promised to offer the best assistance.

Tsai also expressed appreciation to the international community who offered condolences to families affected by the crash.