No fewer than 50 passengers were killed yesterday in Taiwan after an express train with almost 500 aboard derailed in a tunnel.
The train had hit a truck that had slid down a bank onto the track.
One hundred and forty-six other passengers were injured in the island’s worst rail disaster in seven decades.
Images from the scene showed some carriages ripped apart by the impact, with others crumpled, hindering rescuers in their efforts to reach passengers.
By mid-afternoon, no one was still trapped, though the fire department said it had found body parts, meaning the number of those killed, who included the driver, was likely to rise.
“People just fell on top of one another,’’ a woman who survived the crash told domestic television.
“It was terrifying; there were whole families there.’’
Taiwan’s government said there were 496 people on the train, including 120 without seats.
Many were tourists and people heading home at the start of a traditional long weekend holiday to tend to family graves.
One French citizen was amongst the dead, officials said