Taiwan train derails, at least 51 dead, many injured

Taipei (HRNW) A train derailed in a tunnel in eastern Taiwan on Friday after apparently hitting a truck, with at least 51 people feared dead and more than 72 injured, as rescuers struggled to reach crushed carriages, the government said.

The train, travelling to Taitung, came off the rails in a tunnel just north of Hualien causing some carriages to hit the wall of the tunnel, the fire department said in a statement.The transport ministry put the death toll in the island’s worst rail disaster in more than three decades at 51. More than 72 peope were injured, with around 60 already sent to hospital.The train was carrying around 350 people, and rescue efforts are ongoing, the fire department said.

Between 80 to 100 people have been evacuated from the first four carriages of the train, while carriages five to eight have “deformed” and are hard to gain access to, it added.”Is everyone out in carriage four?” a lady is heard shouting from inside the tunnel, in images provided by the fire department.