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This passenger train with 490 people derailed, leaving scores of people dead

A passenger train accident in Taiwan killed at least 50 people and injured dozens

SHARE This passenger train with 490 people derailed, leaving scores of people dead
A passenger train in Taiwan killed at least 50 people and injured dozens.

Rescue workers work at a derailed train near Taroko Gorge in Hualien, Taiwan, on Friday, April 2, 2021. The train partially derailed in eastern Taiwan on Friday after colliding with an unmanned vehicle that had rolled down a hill, killing and injuring dozens.

Chiang Ying-ying, Associated Press

A passenger train in Taiwan carrying close to 490 people derailed in a tunnel, leading to at least 50 deaths and dozens of injuries, CNN reports.

  • The train — which had eight cars — came off the rails inside of a tunnel in eastern Taiwan. Several of the cars hit the wall of the tunnel, according to CNN.
  • The train’s driver died in the crash.
  • Close to 69 survivors are being treated in a hospital for their injuries.

The Associated Press reports that survivors had to climb out of the train’s doors and windows in order to get out. In fact, some had to walk on the train’s roof to find safety.

Survivors describe Taiwan train crash

Per BBC News, there was a sudden jolt that shocked passengers onboard as it crashed into the walls of the tunnel.

  • “It felt like there was a sudden violent jolt and I found myself falling to the floor,” one survivor told Taiwan’s UDN, according to BBC News. “We broke the window to climb to the roof of the train to get out.”
  • Another survivor told BBC News: “My whole body fell to the floor. I hit my head and it started bleeding.”