2023-05-10 20:30:32
A rare fatal accident occurred in Taichung MRT yesterday followingnoon. The crane arm of a residential building that is regarding to be completed plunged straight into the ground from the roof of more than 30 floors, hit and crossed the overhead rails of the MRT, and a train that had just left the station stopped. It was too late and hit the boom. A female passenger was pushed out of the carriage and pressed to the bottom of the train. She died on the spot, and 8 other people (aged 12 to 68) were injured. Some of the injured said that the incident happened suddenly, and they had to rely on instinct to escape when they saw the train crash.
The incident happened at around 12:00 yesterday followingnoon. The crane arm of the newly built “Wenxin Aiyue”, which is located next to Fengle Park Station on the Green Line of the MRT, was being dismantled. It hit the sound insulation screen of the overhead rail of the MRT in the middle of the road. A passenger who was injured in the incident recalled that when the train bound for Taichung High Speed Rail Station left Fengle Park Station, he heard a loud noise and saw a huge yellow object on the track in front of him. It was only regarding a dozen meters up, and when we saw it for a second or two, we slammed into it…we just slammed into it, dragged for a while, and then stopped.” He also pointed out that when the train almost collided, the passengers on the train instinctively lowered their bodies as much as possible, and luckily escaped the gate of death.
However, due to the violent impact, the straight boom pierced through the carriage and was seriously deformed into the shape of the English letter “L”. One of the passengers, 52-year-old Lin Shuya, an assistant professor of law at Jingyi University, was knocked out of the carriage. When she was found bloody and bloody, she died on the spot.
Pan Dechang, captain of the Sixth Taichung Fire Brigade who was in charge of the rescue, said that it is believed that Lin was pushed out of the carriage when the train hit the boom and was crushed on the bottom of the carriage. The family members have received the bad news and rushed to Taichung to deal with the funeral. Jingyi University stated that the teachers and students were deeply shocked and saddened by the news of Lin Shuya’s death, and will do their best to help the family members through the predicament. Lin Shuya is also a member of the Indigenous Peoples Historical Justice and Transitional Justice Committee of the Presidential Palace, and the chairman of Amnesty International Taiwan Branch.
Injured: Seeing wreckage train shines away
The only foreign male passenger among the 8 injured believed that the accident might have been avoided at all. “We were trapped in the station, the doors of the train were still open, we saw the boom go down, we saw the smoke coming out, and once more, the train was still at a standstill, that’s the point,” he said. Do you understand? The doors of the train were regarding to close, and then some people said no, don’t move, but the train started moving, and we crashed into the wreckage.” Taichung MRT pointed out that the train involved in the accident was driving automatically, and the station staff at the scene saw it. When the arm fell down, the control center was notified immediately, but the accident might not be prevented.
After the accident, the Taichung MRT was partially suspended. The authorities ordered the contractor to suspend work and fined all parties involved in the project a total of NT$570,000 (approximately HK$145,500). The real estate developer Xingfu Development and Construction issued a statement twice, referring to the preliminary judgment that the steel cable broke during the dismantling of the scale, causing the crane arm to fall to the ground, and emphasized that it will be responsible for the dead and injured.
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