Crane driver charged in TRA probe
NARROWING DOWN: After searches at 23 locations and questioning 109 people, prosecutors say that mishandling at a construction site might have caused the crash
By Jason Pan / Staff Reporter
Prosecutors yesterday indicted seven people in connection to the Taroko Express No. 408 derailment in Hualien County on April 2, in which 49 people died and more than 200 were injured.
Among the indicted were Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥), the driver of a crane truck that fell onto the tracks and into which the train crashed; his Vietnamese assistant, Hoa Van Hao; and workers at United Geotech Inc (聯合大地工程) and Tung Hsin Construction (東新營造), which undertook construction work near the site of the crash, Hualien prosecutor Chou Fang-yi (周芳怡) said.
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.
Apr 5, 2021
HUALIEN, Taiwan – Two days after Taiwan’s deadliest rail disaster in decades, investigators were working to determine why a truck had slipped downhill from a construction site into the path of an express train, resulting in the collision and derailment that killed dozens of people.
The operator of the crane truck, Lee Yi-hsiang, was ordered detained Sunday by a judge, who reversed an earlier decision to grant him bail. Lee, who has not been charged with a crime, told reporters he had caused the crash and said he would take full responsibility for it.
“I hereby express my deep regret and my sincerest apologies,” Lee said, his voice choking as he bowed in apology.