Taroko Express Crash: Responders urged not to neglect self-care
By Wang Chin-yi and Kayleigh Madjar / Staff reporter, with staff writer
Doctors yesterday called on first responders to care for their mental health and watch for signs of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), as rescuers continue to handle the aftermath of Friday’s train derailment in Hualien County.
The crash was the nation’s worst rail tragedy in decades, killing 50 and injuring 200 as of yesterday after the Hualien District Prosecutors’ Office revised the death toll down from 51 following DNA testing.
Taroko Express No. 408 was traveling from New Taipei City to Taitung when it crashed inside the Cingshuei Tunnel (清水隧道) in Hualien’s Sioulin Township (秀林) after hitting a crane truck that had slid down onto the tracks from a nearby work site.