A woman was killed and 10 people were injured yesterday when a train on the Taichung MRT system hit a crane boom that had fallen onto the tracks.
The incident occurred at 12:29pm at the intersection of Wenxin S Fifth and Wenxin S roads in Nantun District (南屯), near the metro system’s Feng-le Park Station.
A 52-year-old woman surnamed Lin (林), an assistant professor in Providence University’s Department of Law, was found dead, Taichung Fire Bureau Sixth Corp Captain Pan Te-tsang (潘德倉) said.
Photo: CNA
The train ran into the crane boom lying on the rails after it fell more than 30 stories from a nearby construction site and pierced the MRT system’s sound insulation barriers.
Surveillance footage showed the boom falling from the nearly completed structure.
A section of the boom pierced the first car, separate footage taken inside the train showed.
Photo: CNA
The Taichung Fire Bureau transported people to hospitals for treatment for mostly minor injuries, the Taichung City Government said, adding that one of the injured people is Canadian.
The Taichung City Police Department implemented traffic restrictions in the area after the incident.
MRT services between Beitun Main Station and Taichung City Hall continued as usual, with dispatch buses shuttling passengers to and from the Jiuzhangli and High Speed Rail Taichung stations as Taichung Mass Rapid Transit Corp worked to restore full operations to the MRT line.
The Taichung Urban Development Bureau at 1:52pm ordered the immediate cessation of work at the construction site and launched an investigation into the cause of the incident.
Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) told reporters that the company in charge of the construction site, Highwealth Construction Co (興富發建設), would face a hefty fine if it is found to have failed to observe construction safety and the city government would demand compensation from it.
However, the city’s primary concern was to treat the injured passengers, Lu said.
Urban Development Bureau Director Lee Cheng-wei (李正偉) said that it fined the builder, the designer and the construction firm NT$270,000 each, citing contraventions of the Building Act (建築法).
Occupational Safety and Health Administration Director-General Lee Wen-chin (李文進) said that the builder faces a separate fine of NT$300,000 for failing to secure objects in contravention of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法).
Premier Chen Chien-en (陳建仁) asked the Ministry of Labor and the Taiwan Transportation Safety Board to look into the incident and provide the Taichung City Government with all necessary assistance to allow the MRT to resume normal operations as soon as possible, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said.
Highwealth Construction, which dispatched the crew using the crane, said it regretted that its equipment and crew had been involved in an incident resulting in the loss of life.
It would not shy from any legal responsibility for the incident, the company said.
UPDATED (3:40pm): A suspected gas explosion at a shopping mall in Taichung this morning has killed four people and injured 20 others, as emergency responders continue to investigate. The explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi in Situn District (西屯) at 11:33am. One person was declared dead at the scene, while three people were declared deceased later after receiving emergency treatment. Another 20 people sustained major or minor injuries. The Taichung Fire Bureau said it received a report of the explosion at 11:33am and sent rescuers to respond. The cause of the explosion is still under investigation, it said. The National Fire
ALL-IN-ONE: A company in Tainan and another in New Taipei City offer tours to China during which Taiwanese can apply for a Chinese ID card, the source said The National Immigration Agency and national security authorities have identified at least five companies that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese identification cards while traveling in China, a source said yesterday. The issue has garnered attention in the past few months after YouTuber “Pa Chiung” (八炯) said that there are companies in Taiwan that help Taiwanese apply for Chinese documents. Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) last week said that three to five public relations firms in southern and northern Taiwan have allegedly assisted Taiwanese in applying for Chinese ID cards and were under investigation for potential contraventions of the Act Governing
‘INVESTMENT’: Rubio and Arevalo said they discussed the value of democracy, and Rubio thanked the president for Guatemala’s strong diplomatic relationship with Taiwan Guatemalan President Bernardo Arevalo met with US Secretary of State Marco Rubio in Guatemala City on Wednesday where they signed a deal for Guatemala to accept migrants deported from the US, while Rubio commended Guatemala for its support for Taiwan and said the US would do all it can to facilitate greater Taiwanese investment in Guatemala. Under the migrant agreement announced by Arevalo, the deportees would be returned to their home countries at US expense. It is the second deportation deal that Rubio has reached during a Central America trip that has been focused mainly on immigration. Arevalo said his
‘SOVEREIGN AI’: As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for having computing power of 103 petaflops. The governments wants to achieve 1,200 by 2029 The government would intensify efforts to bolster its “Sovereign Artificial Intelligence [AI]” program by setting a goal of elevating the nation’s collective computing power in the public and private sectors to 1,200 peta floating points per second (petaflops) by 2029, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The goal was set to fulfill President William Lai’s (賴清德) vision of turning Taiwan into an “AI island.” Sovereign AI refers to a nation’s capabilities to produce AI using its own infrastructure, data, workforce and business networks. One petaflop allows 1 trillion calculations per second. As of Nov. 19 last year, Taiwan was globally ranked No. 11 for
RSS