HUALIEN COUNTY, Taiwan – Prosecutors in Taiwan on Saturday issued an arrest warrant for the owner of an unmanned truck that rolled onto a track and caused the country’s worst train disaster in decades, killing 50 people and injuring 178.
The train was carrying 494 people at the start of a long holiday weekend on Friday when it collided with the construction truck sliding down a hill above the tracks, the Taiwanese railway administration said.
Many passengers were crushed just before the train entered a tunnel, while some survivors were forced to climb out of the windows and walk along the roof of the train to safety.
Authorities initially reported 51 deaths, but on Saturday revised the score by one.
According to the government’s emergency relief center, the truck’s emergency brake was not properly engaged.
Yu Hsiu-duan, chief prosecutor in the eastern province of Hualien province, where the train derailed, said they were looking for a warrant for the truck’s owner, who was questioned along with several others. She did not give details about an ongoing investigation.
Hualien District Court has allowed the truck owner to post bail of 500,000 new Taiwanese dollars ($ 17,516), but he must remain in the country and avoid contact with any witnesses, the Taiwanese Central News Agency reported.
President Tsai Ing-wen visited hospitals near the crash site rather than the site itself so as not to interfere with rescue work, her spokeswoman said.
“This heartbreaking accident caused many injuries and deaths. I came to Hualien today to visit the injured and express my condolences to the families of the deceased passengers,” Tsai said. “We will definitely help them in the aftermath.”
Tsai told reporters on Friday that she had asked the Transportation Safety Committee to conduct a rigorous investigation.
Transport Minister Lin Chia-lung said repairs would be expedited.
“If something like this happens, I feel very sorry and I will take full responsibility,” Lin said after visiting the site.
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Workers removed the two rear cars from the tracks on Saturday morning. A third, however, could not be moved until the tracks were repaired, while the other five cars were still trapped in the tunnel. Two large construction cranes could be seen next to the train in a remote wooded cliff on the east coast of the island.
The operation should be done within a week, said Weng Hui-ping, head of the railway administration’s newsgroup. During the repairs, all eastern trains will run on a track parallel to the one damaged in the accident, causing delays of 15 to 20 minutes.
The National Fire Service said the dead included the young, newlywed driver and the assistant driver of the train. The government’s disaster response center said it was the worst rail disaster since a train caught fire in suburban Taipei in 1948, killing 64 people.
Train travel is popular during the four-day Tomb Sweeping holiday in Taiwan, when families often return to hometowns to pay homage to the graves of their elders.
Taiwan is a mountainous island and most of its 24 million inhabitants live in rural areas along the north and west coasts, where most of the island’s agricultural land, major cities and high-tech industries are located.
The east with a low population, where the accident happened, is popular with tourists.