TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – The owner of a construction truck that caused the worst train accident in Taiwan in decades, killing 48 people, apologized in tears as he was taken away from his home by police on Sunday. According to the government emergency response center, the emergency brake on the unmanned truck was not properly activated.
It is being investigated how Lee Yi-Hsiang’s vehicle slid right on the rails from a nearby construction site on the mountainous coast of eastern Hualien province on Friday. The truck was hit by a passenger train carrying 494 people, which derailed just before entering a tunnel and crushed many passengers in the mutilated rail cars.
The death toll was cut to 48 on Sunday, after rescuers initially said 51, then 50 people were killed. The changes came after some body parts were found to belong to one person, a spokesman for the Central Emergency Operation Center said. At least 198 people were injured.
“I caused a serious accident on the Taiwan Railways Administration’s Taroko train number 480 during this year’s Tomb Sweeping Holidays, resulting in deaths and injuries. construction site. manager, words are muffled by a face mask and by emotion. “I will cooperate fully with the authorities’ investigation and take responsibility.”
Prosecutors in Hualien province previously said they were seeking an arrest warrant for the truck’s owner, who was being questioned along with several others.
The Hualien court initially allowed Lee to pay a bail of 500,000 new Taiwan dollars (US $ 17,516), but that decision was reversed on Sunday when a higher court in Hualien passed the lower court’s decision to allow bail. Revoked, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.
Rail travel is popular during Taiwan’s four-day Tomb Sweeping holiday, when families often return to their hometowns to pay respects at the graves of their elders. It is also an opportunity to go on vacation.
Taiwan is a mountainous island, and most of its 24 million people live in the plains along its northern and western coasts, which are home to most of the island’s agricultural land, largest cities, and high-tech industries. The sparsely populated east where the crash occurred is popular as a tourist destination, and the railway is known for its beautiful natural scenery.