HUALIEN COUNTY, Taiwan (AP) — Prosecutors in Taiwan on Saturday sought an arrest warrant for the owner of an unmanned truck that rolled onto a train track and caused the country’s worst rail disaster in decades, killing 50 people and injuring 178.
台湾铁路管理局说，这列火车在周五的一个漫长的假期周末开始时载有494人，当时它撞到了建筑卡车上。根据政府的救灾中心的说法，卡车的紧急制动器没有适当地参与。
The crash occurred just before the train entered a tunnel, and many passengers were crushed inside the mangled train carriages. With much of the train stuck inside the tunnel, some survivors were forced to climb out of windows and walk along the train’s roof to safety.
Authorities initially reported 51 deaths but revised the count down by one on Saturday. Among those killed was a U.S. citizen. Another U.S. citizen who was on the train was reported missing, according to a statement by Taiwan’s Foreign Ministry.
Yu Hsiu-duan, chief prosecutor in eastern Hualien County where the train derailed, said they were seeking an arrest warrant for the truck’s owner, who was questioned along with several others. She didn’t offer details citing an ongoing investigation.
The Hualien district court allowed the truck owner to post bail of 500,000 new Taiwan dollars (US$17,516) but he must stay in the county and avoid contact with any witnesses, Taiwan’s Central News Agency reported.
President Tsai Ing-wen visited hospitals near the crash instead of the site itself so as not to interfere with rescue work, her spokesperson said.
“这次令人心碎的事故造成了许多伤害和死亡。我今天来到Hualien拜访了受伤的人，并向已故乘客的家人表示哀悼。” Tsai说。“我们一定会帮助他们。”
蔡周五告诉记者，她要求运输安全委员会进行严格的调查。
运输部长林·奇（Lin Chia-Lung）表示，维修将加速。
林在参观该网站后说：“当这样的事情发生时，我感到非常抱歉，我将承担全部责任。”
Workers removed the two rearmost cars from the tracks Saturday morning. However, a third could not be moved before the tracks are repaired while the other five cars were still wedged into the tunnel. Two large construction cranes could be seen drawn up next to the train in a remote area on the island’s east coast.
The operation should be done within a week, said Weng Hui-ping, head of the railway administration’s news group. During the repairs, all east coast trains will run on a track parallel to the one damaged in the accident, causing delays of 15 to 20 minutes, he said.
The National Fire Service said the dead included the train’s young, newly married driver and the assistant driver. The government’s disaster response center said it was the worst rail disaster since a train caught fire in 1948 in suburban Taipei, killing 64 people.
火车旅行在台湾为期四天的坟墓度假期间很受欢迎，当时家人经常回到家乡，在长老的墓地里敬拜。
台湾是一个多山的岛屿,and most of its 24 million people live in the flatlands along the northern and western coasts that are home to most of the island’s farmland, biggest cities and high-tech industries. The lightly populated east where the crash happened is popular with tourists, many of whom travel there by train to avoid mountain roads.
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詹宁斯从台湾台北报道。
