48 killed as train derails in Taiwan

Manila, Apr 2 (Agency) At many as 48 people were killed and 118 injured after a train ferrying 490 passengers derailed in Taiwan’s Hualien County on Friday. Currently, no one remains trapped in the train or the tunnel, while seven of the injured are stated to be in a critical condition, a report by the Central News Agency (CNA) said. An earlier update by Taiwan’s national fire agency said that the accident claimed 41 lives.

In what is said to be the island’s worst rail disaster in almost four decades, an express train carrying 490 people on board derailed in a tunnel today. The train, which was traveling from the capital city Taipei, to the southeastern city of Taitung got derailed after reportedly hitting a truck that had slid off the road from a nearby construction site.