22 dead after train flips in Taiwan

Yilan, October 21 

At least 22 persons have died after an express train derailed and flipped over on a popular coastal tourist route in Taiwan on Sunday, the island's worst rail accident for more than 20 years.

Taiwan's railways administration confirmed 22 persons had been killed and said 171 had been injured, 10 seriously, in the accident in northeastern Yilan county.

Authorities have not confirmed if any passengers remain trapped alive inside the train. An AFP reporter at the scene said that more bodies were being brought out of the wrecked carriages.

Images from the site showed the Puyuma Express train completely derailed and lying zig-zagged across the track. All of the train’s eight carriages had derailed and five had flipped onto their side near Xinma station, the railways administration said.

“There are four carriages that were overturned at 90 degrees and the worst casualties were in those carriages,” Jason Lu, head of the Taiwan Railways Administration told reporters. “The exact cause of the accident is pending investigation,” he added.

One passenger told Apple Daily Taiwan that the train had put on its "emergency brake" twice on the journey and that the electricity supply had been patchy. — AFP