Four additional suspects questioned over train crash
TEN IMPLICATED: An Agency Against Corruption probe focuses on Hualien government officials and contractors accused of bribery, the agency said
By Jason Pan / Staff reporter
Hualien prosecutors yesterday questioned four more suspects amid an investigation into a fatal train crash on Friday last week, saying that they are focusing on alleged corruption over public work projects.
Fifty people were killed and more than 200 injured when Taroko Express No. 408 crashed into a crane truck that had rolled onto the tracks, derailed and slammed into the walls of the Cingshuei Tunnel (清水隧道) in Hualien’s Sioulin Township (秀林).
Rail repair reassessment ordered
LANDSLIDE AFTERMATH: Minister Lin Chia-lung said that the plan to reopen a railway section would be changed, as collapses on upper slopes had expanded
By Shelley Shan / Staff reporter
Staff have been asked to reassess the time needed to reopen the damaged section of railway between Ruifang (瑞芳) and Houtong (猴硐) stations in New Taipei City, Minister of Transportation and Communications Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday following an inspection of the region.
Access to the section has been disrupted by a massive landslide on Friday last week triggered by days of heavy rainfall on Taiwan’s northeast coast.
The ministry had said that it might resume two-way operations on a single track by 5am on Sunday, but Lin said that timetable would be reset, as the situation is worse than had been estimated.