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Train derailment in Taiwan leaves 48 dead

According to the preliminary data, the train collided with a construction vehicle that rolled down a slope because apparently its emergency brake wasn't secured

© EPA-EFE/Keelung City Fire Department

HONG KONG /XIANGGANG/, April 2. /TASS/. The number of victims of a train derailing in Taiwan, according to the latest official data, has increased to 48 people. Another 118 passengers were hospitalized, according to the island’s central news agency.

At present, nobody is reported to be trapped in the crushed rail cars.

The Taroko Express train carrying 350 passengers derailed while exiting a tunnel in eastern Taiwan on Friday. According to the preliminary data, the train collided with a construction vehicle that rolled down a slope because apparently its emergency brake wasn't secured. As a result, the second and the third cars went off the rails while the others were totaled by crashing against walls of the tunnel.

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