TRANSPORTATION
Train malfunction resolved
Despite reports of smoke coming from a malfunctioning train yesterday morning, the Taipei MRT Red Line continued to operate normally due to rapid response by maintenance personnel, Taipei Rapid Transit Co (TRTC) said in a statement. Smoke was reported coming from a train heading toward Tamsui as it passed Jiantan Station, with some passengers saying they smelled burning.The smoke was caused by friction braking applied after the train’s propulsion system malfunctioned at 8:47am, TRTC said. Maintenance personnel boarded the train immediately to handle the issue, with the Taipei MRT Operation Control Center ensuring that the approximately 600 passengers on the train were able to get on the next service, it said, adding that the whole situation was resolved in about three minutes. The issue has been fully resolved and checks into how the propulsion system malfunctioned would be done when the train is back at the depot, the statement added.
SOCIETY
Man struck by falling tree
A 67-year-old motorcyclist was yesterday seriously injured and is being treated in a hospital after he was struck on the head by a falling tree in Taipei, local authorities said. The Taipei Fire Department said it received a report at 11:39am about the incident that took place near Civic Boulevard and Zhongshan N Road, Sec 1. Upon arriving at the scene, paramedics found the man, surnamed Lin (林), unconscious and without vital signs, and rushed him to Mackay Memorial Hospital for emergency treatment, the department said. The tree that fell on the man had been growing on the sidewalk and had cracked at the bottom of the trunk near the roots, it said, adding that it had asked the city government to investigate the matter. At 11am — at about the time of the accident — Taipei was reporting sustained wind speeds of 15kph and gusts of up to 35 kph, Central Weather Bureau data showed.
CRIME
Seven charged over gun
Seven Marine Corps officers have been indicted for allegedly replacing a handgun from an armory in Pingtung County with an air gun replica last year, prosecutors said on Tuesday. The commanding officer of the Marine Corps Recruit Training Center, surnamed Pan (潘), a squad leader surnamed Cheng (鄭) and a battalion commander surnamed Lin (林) were charged, along with four company commanders, the Pingtung District Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement. The seven are accused of conspiring to purchase an air gun and storing it in the armory in place of a missing .45-caliber handgun, prosecutors said. As part of the cover-up, the accused etched the same serial number onto the air gun as the lost weapon, which has not been found, they said. The handgun was only discovered missing by a sergeant, surnamed Wu (吳), performing a weapons check on March 4 last year. Although Wu immediately reported the matter, no action was taken until March 20, when Lin and the four company commanders went and purchased an air gun to replace it, prosecutors said. Pan, who was by this time aware of the missing weapon, did not report the matter to the authorities as required. Prosecutors said they would defer the prosecutions of five other officers connected to the case as they have shown remorse and are first-time offenders. Superior officers up the chain of command did nothing to report the missing weapon, and their subordinates were only following orders, they added.
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