At least 18 dead and 168 injured in Taiwan tourist train crash
- Accident is worst on island’s railways for 37 years, but cause as yet unknown
- American woman among those hurt
At least 18 people were killed and 168 injured when a tourist train derailed in Yilan, northern Taiwan, on Sunday, in the worst accident of its kind on the island for 37 years.
The Taiwan Railway Administration said earlier that the death toll had risen to 22 but later found that “four additional deaths” were double calculation at hospitals.
“The Puyuma Express train, with 366 passengers aboard, overturned at 4.50pm near Hsinma station in Suao township,” Lu Chieh-sheng, director of the Taiwan Railways Administration, said.
Most of the victims died on the train while others succumbed to their injuries in hospital, he said.
A further 168 people were hurt and had been taken to four nearby hospitals for treatment, he said.
Lu said the cause of the accident was still being investigated.