Taiwan Train Crash Kills at Least 17 and Injures Over 100 Others

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Rescuers tending to injured passengers after a train derailed in Yilan, Taiwan, on Sunday.CreditCreditTaiwan Military, via Reuters

By The New York Times

Oct. 21, 2018

At least 17 people were killed and more than 120 others injured after a passenger train derailed late Sunday afternoon in northeastern Taiwan, government officials said.

Images on social media showed the mangled wreckage of the train and injured passengers lying on the ground.

普悠瑪號出軌，蘇澳。
確定有人受傷。 pic.twitter.com/csqYOfmgph
— Pate Rongan (@laotzuchi) October 21, 2018

Video footage showed emergency crews pulling people from the wreckage.

The Puyuma express train was carrying about 310 people toward Taitung, a city on Taiwan’s southeast coast, when it went off the tracks about 4:50 p.m. local time in Yilan County, according to local news reports.

The Taiwan Railways Administration said the train had been moving between two stations beforehand.

“As of 6:30 p.m., there are 17 dead on site and 126 people injured,” a spokesman told the local news media.

Rescue services were on the scene, with the Central News Agency reporting that more than 30 people were still trapped.

The injured were being treated in four hospitals, The Associated Press reported.

Amy Qin contributed reporting.