Hualien lists six suspects in train crash
By Jason Pan / Staff reporter
The Hualien District Prosecutors’ Office has listed six people as suspects in a judicial investigation into a fatal train crash on Friday last week.
Fifty people were killed and more than 200 were injured when the Taroko Express No. 408 train slammed into a crane truck that had slid onto the tracks near the entrance of Cingshuei Tunnel (清水隧道) in Hualien’s Sioulin Township (秀林).
The office also summoned six officials at the Taiwan Railways Administration’s (TRA) Hualien Engineering Section for questioning about alleged illegal business operations and unsafe work conditions by Yi Hsiang Industry Co and Tung Hsin Construction Co, the two main contractors working on the TRA’s safety improvement project near the site of the crash.
KMT Kaohsiung city councilors donate via Hualien
By Sherry Hsiao / Staff reporter
The Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) Kaohsiung City Council caucus yesterday said that it would be making a donation to the victims of last week’s train crash through the Hualien County Government instead of the Ministry of Health and Welfare, citing its doubts about how donated funds have been handled in the past.
Fifty people were killed and more than 200 injured on Friday last week when Taroko Express No. 408, traveling from New Taipei City to Taitung, hit a crane truck at 9:28am as it was about to enter the Cingshuei Tunnel (清水隧道) in Hualien’s Sioulin Township (秀林).
TRA trains mourn deaths of two drivers
REFORM: Premier Su Tseng-chang vowed to accelerate changes in the TRA, including installing smart surveillance systems to detect track intrusions and improve safety
By Lee Hsing Fang, Wang Chun-chi and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters, staff writer, with CNA
Trains across the nation sounded their horns simultaneously yesterday morning to pay tribute to two train drivers killed in last week’s Taroko Express crash, while the Executive Yuan vowed to speed up reform of the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA).
More than 120 TRA trains sounded their horns at 9:28am yesterday the time when Taroko Express No. 408 hit a crane truck as it was about to enter the Cingshuei Tunnel (清水隧道) in Hualien’s Sioulin Township (秀林) to mourn the deaths of driver Yuan Chun-hsiu (袁淳修) and assistant driver Chiang Pei-feng (江沛峰).
President unveils three major TRA reform directives
‘UNSHIRKABLE’: President Tsai Ing-wen said instilling a safety-centric mindset and safety standards among construction workers is of the utmost importance
By Kayleigh Madjar / Staff writer, with CNA
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday laid out three major areas of reform for the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) following Friday last week’s fatal train crash, saying that there is no need to doubt the government’s determination, as reforming the agency is its “unshirkable responsibility.”
Tsai made the remarks in a speech ahead of a Democratic Progressive Party Standing Committee meeting, during which she observed a minute’s silence for the victims of the Taroko Express crash, which killed 50 people and injured more than 200 after colliding with a truck as it was about to enter the Cingshuei Tunnel (清水隧道) in Hualien’s Sioulin Township (秀林).