2021 Hualien train derailment

Coordinates: 24°13′02″N 121°41′18″E / 24.2171°N 121.6883°E / 24.2171; 121.6883
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Hualien train derailment
The derailed Taroko Express trainset,
as seen from outside the entrance to the tunnel
Map
Details
Date2 April 2021
09:28 NST (01:28 UTC)
LocationQingshui Tunnel, Xiulin, Hualien County, Taiwan
Between Heren and Chongde (51.25km from Su'aoxin)
Coordinates24°13′02″N 121°41′18″E / 24.2171°N 121.6883°E / 24.2171; 121.6883
CountryTaiwan
LineNorth-link line, Eastern Trunk line
OperatorTaiwan Railways Administration
OwnerTaiwan Railways Administration
Service408 Taroko Express bound for Taitung Station
Incident typeDerailment, collision
Statistics
Trains1
Passengers492[1]
Crew4[1]
Deaths50[2][3]
Injured146[4]
Route map
Legend
47.5
 Heren
New Heren Tunnel
Heren Tunnel
Daqingshui Brook
Crash site
New Qingshui Tunnel
Qingshui Tunnel
Shigong Brook
New Chongde Tunnel
Chongde Tunnel
57.6
 Chongde

On 2 April 2021, at 09:28 NST (01:28 UTC), a Taroko Express train operated by the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) derailed at the north entrance of Qingshui Tunnel in Heren Section, Xiulin Township, Hualien County, Taiwan, killing at least 50 people and injuring more than 150 others.[1][2][3][4][5] At the time of the accident, the train was carrying 488 passengers.[1][6] The eight-carriage train derailed in a tunnel north of Hualien City, reportedly after a construction truck fell down a slope and crashed into the train.[7]

It is the deadliest train accident in Taiwan since a train fire in 1948, whose death toll is uncertain but which may have killed up to 64 people.[8]

Background

Interior of a Taroko Express in 2007

The accident occurred on the first day of a four-day weekend in celebration of Tomb Sweeping festival, which is typically a period of high traffic with people visiting the graves of deceased family members.[9][10] Many passengers had been standing at the time of the accident.[11]

The eight-car Taroko Express has a total of 376 seats[12][13] and operates as a Tze-chiang limited express train, which is the highest class service in the TRA system. Since the Taroko Express is a tilting train[a] with a maximum operating speed of 130 km/h (81 mph), the TRA originally did not sell standing tickets for these trains due to safety concerns.[10][15] However, in order to increase the supply of available tickets during periods of high demand, the TRA began selling up to 120 standing tickets for each trainset on 2 May 2019, after it said it had performed detailed safety tests.[15]

Qingshui Tunnel refers to a pair of tunnels, each single-tracked, that bypasses Qingshui Cliff. In April 2019, the TRA began construction to improve the slope stability near the north end of the tunnel by constructing a rock shed over the western track.[16][17] At the time of the accident, the construction was nearly complete.[16]

Accident

Qingshui Cliffs from the north in 2009. The tunnel second from the right near the bottom is the accident site.

At 09:28 NST (01:28 UTC), a southbound Taroko Express train numbered 408 bound for Taitung derailed as it was entering Qingshui Tunnel, between Heren Station and Chongde Station.[18][19] It was carrying 488 passengers and three staff in eight carriages,[1][10] and was travelling on the eastern track.[20] According to media reports, a flatbed truck used in the slope stabilization project fell onto the tracks and was struck by the oncoming train.[11][21] At the time, no construction was actively being carried out, in observance of the holiday.[16][20] The driver of the truck was not in the vehicle during the accident, but was in the nearby construction site office.[21][22]

The front of the train, cars No. 8 and 7 which impacted the construction truck as the train entered the tunnel was severely deformed. The remaining cars then struck the walls of the tunnel, causing major damage. Cars No. 8 to 3 are believed to have been trapped in the tunnel when the train came to a halt.[23]

Casualties

At least 50 people were confirmed dead during the incident, including forty-eight passengers, the train driver and a train's assistant,[24][2][3] while another 156 were taken to a hospital, several in critical condition. The majority of the deceased were in the carriage 7 and 8. Seventy-two people remained trapped in the wreckage of the train.[3] Classes from an asylum, an elementary school, and a university were among the passengers; four students died and thirty-one more were wounded.[25] A citizen from France is among the dead, while two citizens from Japan and one from Macao are among the wounded.[26]

Response

Medical officers assist with the rescue effort

More than 150 emergency personnel, including search and rescue workers and members of the military, were dispatched to the derailment site.[10] The driver of the maintenance truck was taken into police custody for questioning.[18] Over 80 people were evacuated from the train's rear four carriages, while the remaining four were described as "deformed" and harder to access.[11]

Among those who visited the crash site were the Premier Su Tseng-chang,[27] Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung and Minister of Interior Hsu Kuo-yung, along with other local government officials.[28][3]

The Taiwan Transportation Safety Board will ultimately conduct an investigation into the accident.[29]

Reaction

American Institute in Taiwan, European Economic and Trade Office, John Dennis of British Office Taipei,[30] Japan–Taiwan Exchange Association,[31] and China's Taiwan Affairs Office and Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits offered condolences.[32][33]

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Carriages used on the Taroko Express belong to the TEMU1000 series [ja; zh], where the 'T' stands for "tilting".[13][14]

References

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 2021 Hualien train derailment.
  1. ^ a b c d e Wang, Cindy (2 April 2021). "High-Speed Train Derails in Taiwan's East Coast, Killing 41". Bloomberg News. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  2. ^ a b c "Passenger train carrying 490 derails in Taiwan, killing at least 50 and injuring dozens". cnn.com. 2 April 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  3. ^ a b c d e Zhang Qi; Guo Zhixuan; Yu Xiaohan (2 April 2021). 台鐵太魯閣號事故 含司機員在內已知50死【更新】 (in Traditional Chinese). Central News Agency. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  4. ^ a b Amy Qin; Amy Chang Chien (1 April 2021). "Taiwan Train Derails in Tunnel, Killing at Least 1 Person". The New York Times. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  5. ^ "Train derails in Taiwan, many feared dead". CNN. Reuters. 2 April 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  6. ^ Chang Chi; Lu Tai-cheng; Frances Huang (2 April 2021). "Multiple passengers reported with 'no vital signs' in train derailment". Taipei. Focus Taiwan. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  7. ^ Coote, Darryl (2 April 2021). "Train derails in Taiwan; at least 4 dead, several injured". UPI.
  8. ^ Staff, Reuters (2 April 2021). "Factbox: Taiwan's worst train accidents". Reuters. Retrieved 2 April 2021. {{cite news}}: |first= has generic name (help)
  9. ^ "Taiwan: At least 34 killed after train derails inside tunnel". BBC News. 2 April 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  10. ^ a b c d Davidson, Helen (2 April 2021). "Taiwan train crash: dozens dead after express service derails in tunnel". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  11. ^ a b c Blanchard, Ben (1 April 2021). "Taiwan train crash kills 36 in deadliest rail tragedy in decades". Reuters. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  12. ^ "Driver killed as train plows into truck". Taipei Times. 18 January 2012. Archived from the original on 28 February 2018.
  13. ^ a b "News Releases: January 9, 2015". Hitachi Global. Archived from the original on 2 April 2021.
  14. ^ https://archive.is/20210402115323/https://stat.ncl.edu.tw/glossaryDetail_en.jsp?p=00005256
  15. ^ a b Chuang, C. (1 May 2019). 普悠瑪.太魯閣號5/2起賣站票 限當天購買 [TRA Sets to Begin Selling Standing Tickets on May 2]. 公視新聞網 PNN. Archived from the original on 2 April 2021.
  16. ^ a b c 汪淑芬 (2 April 2021). 太魯閣號事故 台鐵早已行文連假期間停工. Central News Agency (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  17. ^ 田德財; 田俊浩 (2 April 2021). 台鐵北迴線為什麼有貨車滑落. KS News (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  18. ^ a b "36 reported with no vital signs, 44 injured in train derailment". Focus Taiwan. Central News Agency. 2 April 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  19. ^ Everington, Keoni (2 April 2021). "36 lose vital signs after train derails in eastern Taiwan". Taiwan News. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  20. ^ a b 鄭瑋奇 (2 April 2021). "台鐵出軌》清明連假台鐵工程全暫停 太魯閣號卻撞上工程車出軌" (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Liberty Times. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  21. ^ a b "【台鐵出軌】關鍵28分鐘！工程車亂停無聲滑落埋殺機　真相在這台機器" (in Chinese (Taiwan)). Apple Daily. 2 April 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  22. ^ 王思慧 (2 April 2021). "疑忘拉手煞車釀大禍 工程車司機檢警偵訊中" (in Chinese (Taiwan)). United Daily News. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  23. ^ Everington, Keoni (2 April 2021). "Home Society 36 lose vital signs after train derails in eastern Taiwan". Taiwan News. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  24. ^ Wang Junqi; Wang Jinyi; Hua Mengjing; Yuta Lang (2 April 2021). 太魯閣號清水隧道出軌 釀50死146輕重傷（不斷更新） [Taroko Qingshui Tunnel derailed, causing 50 deaths and 146 minor and serious injuries (continuous update)]. ltn.com.tw (in Chinese). Taipei, Taiwan. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  25. ^ 台鐵出軌》已知學生3死31傷 幼兒園學童不幸罹難. ltn.com.tw (in Traditional Chinese). 2 April 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  26. ^ "Taiwan train crash: 50 killed, 146 hurt in collision with runaway truck". South China Morning Post. 2 April 2021. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  27. ^ "Taiwan: Dozens killed as train crashes and derails in tunnel". BBC.com. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  28. ^ Yu Xiaohan. "台鐵太魯閣號出軌 林佳龍、徐國勇趕赴現場" (in Chinese). Central News Agency. Central News Agency. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  29. ^ Xie, Stella Yifan; Wang, Joyu (2 April 2021). "Taiwan Train Derails, Killing at Least 50 People". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2 April 2021.
  30. ^ "太魯閣號事故 美英法澳歐盟駐台機構發文哀悼慰問". Taiwan Central News Agency (in Traditional Chinese). 2 April 2021.
  31. ^ "太魯閣號事故 日本前首相安倍與參議員蓮舫送暖". Taiwan Central News Agency (in Traditional Chinese). 2 April 2020.
  32. ^ "国台办、海协会对台铁列车出轨事故伤亡台胞及家属表示哀悼和慰问". Taiwan Affairs Office (in Simplified Chinese). 2 April 2021.
  33. ^ "國臺辦：對臺鐵列車出軌事故表達高度關切". Taiwan Affairs Office (in Traditional Chinese). 2 April 2021.
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