“I deeply regret and want to apologize,” the truck driver, Lee Yi-hsiang, said on Sunday. “I will cooperate with the investigation by police and prosecutors to take proper responsibility.”
Lee was released on bail on Saturday, but Hualien’s court later withdrew his bail, citing the possibility that he could try to flee, cooperate with others or destroy evidence, the government-run Central News Agency (CNA) reported. from Taiwan.
According to the CNA report, researchers are investigating whether the wrecker brake was not properly activated – either due to mechanical failure or human negligence.
CEOC lowered its death toll from 51 to 50 on Monday. The train driver is one of the dead, according to Taiwan’s fire service.
According to CEOC, 163 of the injured have been fired and 37 are still being treated.
Government response
The train came off the rails in a tunnel just north of Hualien, through which several carriages hit the tunnel wall, and took place just as a long weekend began for the nation’s national holiday Tomb Sweeping Day.
The crash site is located just east of the picturesque Taroko National Park, a popular tourist destination on the island’s mountainous east coast.
Taiwanese transport minister Lin Chia-lung offered in a phone call with Taiwanese Prime Minister Su Tseng-chang on Sunday, saying he wanted to resign and assume responsibility for the accident, CNA reported.
Cabinet spokesman Lo Ping-cheng told reporters that Taiwanese Prime Minister praised Lin for showing accountability but declined to discuss the dismissal.
The government has already established a compensation plan for each passenger, for which NT $ 5.3 million ($ 185,500) will be paid to the families of each fatality. The seriously injured will each receive $ 91,000 and other injured passengers will receive $ 14,000, officials said.
Taiwan’s President, Tsai Ing-wen, said on Friday that her government “will continue to do everything we can to ensure [passenger] safety after this heartbreaking incident. “
Jessie Yeung, Joyce Huang, Rob Pichet, Reuters, Chandler Thornton, Zamira Rahim and Taipei journalist Andy Lee contributed to the coverage.