(COLOMBO, LANKAPUVATH) –At least 18 people have been killed and 187 injured after a passenger trained derailed in north-east Taiwan.
Railway authorities say they are investigating the accident, which happened in Yilan County at about 16:50 local time (08:50 GMT) on Sunday.
A total of 366 passengers were on the train when all eight of its carriages derailed.
The incident is Taiwan’s worst rail accident in 27 years. At least three children were among the dead.
“The train was going very fast. I hit a wall when the car started to flip. Around five to six people were thrown out of the carriage door,” passenger Henry Tseng told Reuters news agency.
“There [was] no time to think what happened. Everyone was in a rush to get out.”
It is not clear if any passengers remain unaccounted for – with reports providing conflicting details.
