[GODREKR]

Thu, May 11, 2023, Taiwan- A woman was killed and 10 people were injured yesterday when a train on the Taichung MRT system hit a crane boom that had fallen onto the tracks.

The incident occurred at 12:29pm at the intersection of Wenxin S Fifth and Wenxin S roads in Nantun District (南屯), near the metro system’s Feng-le Park Station.

A 52-year-old woman surnamed L. (林), an assistant professor in Providence University’s Department of Law, was found dead, Taichung Fire Bureau Sixth Corp Captain Pan Te-tsang (潘德倉) said.

The train ran into the crane boom lying on the rails after it fell more than 30 stories from a nearby construction site and pierced the MRT system’s sound insulation barriers.

Surveillance footage showed the boom falling from the nearly completed structure.

A section of the boom pierced the first car, separate footage taken inside the train showed.

The Taichung Fire Bureau transported people to hospitals for treatment for mostly minor injuries, the Taichung City Government said, adding that one of the injured people is Canadian.

The Taichung City Police Department implemented traffic restrictions in the area after the incident.

MRT services between Beitun Main Station and Taichung City Hall continued as usual, with dispatch buses shuttling passengers to and from the Jiuzhangli and High Speed Rail Taichung stations as Taichung Mass Rapid Transit Corp worked to restore full operations to the MRT line.

The Taichung Urban Development Bureau at 1:52pm ordered the immediate cessation of work at the construction site and launched an investigation into the cause of the incident.

Taichung Mayor Lu Shiow-yen (盧秀燕) told reporters that the company in charge of the construction site, Highwealth Construction Co (興富發建設), would face a hefty fine if it is found to have failed to observe construction safety and the city government would demand compensation from it.

However, the city’s primary concern was to treat the injured passengers, Lu said.

Urban Development Bureau Director Lee Cheng-wei (李正偉) said that it fined the builder, the designer and the construction firm NT$270,000 each, citing contraventions of the Building Act (建築法).

Occupational Safety and Health Administration Director-General Lee Wen-chin (李文進) said that the builder faces a separate fine of NT$300,000 for failing to secure objects in contravention of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法).

Premier Chen Chien-en (陳建仁) asked the Ministry of Labor and the Taiwan Transportation Safety Board to look into the incident and provide the Taichung City Government with all necessary assistance to allow the MRT to resume normal operations as soon as possible, Executive Yuan spokesman Lo Ping-cheng (羅秉成) said.

Highwealth Construction, which dispatched the crew using the crane, said it regretted that its equipment and crew had been involved in an incident resulting in the loss of life.

It would not shy from any legal responsibility for the incident, the company said.

Source

https://www3.nhk.or.jp/nhkworld/comm...0230510_28.xml

Thank you to Kellyhound for the additional videos and info.

[GODREKR]

Witness says metro train was stopped when crane fell onto tracks: train then drove into it

A Canadian man who was aboard a Taichung metro train when one person was killed, and eight were injured in an accident, Wednesday, May 10, says that the train was stopped at a station when the crane boom fell onto the tracks.

The man, who is unnamed in media reports, and described as a foreign English teacher, gave a doorstop interview as he stepped out of a hospital where he was treated for an abrasion to his head suffered when, according to his testimony, the train he was travelling on slammed into the boom-arm of a construction crane that had fallen onto the metro tracks.

“We were stopped at the station, the doors were still open, and we saw the crane hit, ‘boom!'” he told reporters.

Emphasizing again that the train was stopped at the station, and describing the astonishment of passengers witnessing the crane hitting the tracks in a cloud of smoke, he then describes the shocked realization dawning on the passengers as the doors begin to close and the train starts to move forward.

“The doors on the train start closing, and the guy on the side’s going no, no, no, don’t go.”

“But the train starts moving anyway, and we drove right into the wreckage.”

“So for whatever reason, the train was stopped when we saw the accident. The train was stopped but the train started going anyway… for whatever reason, I don’t know. I’m not from here.”

As the Canadian started moving towards a waiting taxi, a reporter asked him about his injury.

Pointing to the bandage on the right side of his forehead, the Canadian said dismissively, “I play hockey, this is nothing.”

Thank you Kellyhound for adding the videos of the accident.

[kellyhound]

the accident

[GODREKR]

Originally Posted by kellyhound ↗

the accident

That's some scary shit. They're lucky. It could have gone worse.

[houseoftechno]

Originally Posted by kellyhound ↗

the accident

"The accident" video shows a row of individual access control gates on the platform along the length of the car. Never saw that before. I wonder if that arrangement is to prevent crowd jamming of the train doors during rush hour.

[houseoftechno]

Looks like the train may have been driverless, thus the train driving into the debris.

[kellyhound]

Originally Posted by houseoftechno ↗

Looks like the train may have been driverless, thus the train driving into the debris.

yup.

TMRT transportation section chief Hsu Tai-ming (許泰銘) said a system to detect objects on tracks and to stop MRT trains is in place and should be working, but the distance between the crane boom and the station was too short, so there was not enough time to stop the train.

Taichung police yesterday took the statements of workers at the condominium building: the construction site supervisor and seven workers and equipment operators. The eight were transferred to Taichung prosecutors for further questioning.

The site supervisor, surnamed Tsai (蔡), was released on bail of NT$500,000, a crane equipment supervisor, surnamed Liu (劉), was freed on bail of NT$300,000, and a crane operator, surnamed Lu (呂), and onsite signal operator, surnamed Hsu (許), were released on bail of NT$200,000 each.

The four men are likely to face charges of offenses against public safety, along with negligence resulting in death and bodily harm. The other four workers were released without bail, while prosecutors also gathered material and took testimony from witnesses and passengers in the damaged MRT cars.

Taichung Urban Development Bureau Director Lee Cheng-wei (李正偉) ordered Highwealth to stop its nine building projects in the city as the agency conducts safety inspections.

Lee said the company has been fined NT$810,000 for contravening the Building Act (建築法), while the Ministry of Labor fined it NT$300,000 for safety breaches.

Despite the imposed shutdown, city inspectors found one building project in which Highwealth crews were still working for which it was fined an additional NT$270,000.

Reports by the Chinese-language Liberty Times (the sister paper of the Taipei Times) said that Highwealth and its subsidiaries have a poor record on workplace safety, causing 10 deaths in 10 incidents over the past five years.

Ministry of Labor officials confirmed the reports and said that inspections should be carried out for all of the work sites of the company and its subsidiaries in Taiwan.

Records showed Highwealth companies were embroiled in four major work site incidents in Taichung within the past four years, including a construction worker falling to his death in October 2020, another worker falling from a construction site the following month, a fire at a company site in 2020 and another fire in 2021. The six other fatal incidents took place in other cities in the past five years.

[houseoftechno]

Yet unattended vehicles are permitted to operate on our roads.

[William May]

Just wondering if the boom fell with a "BOOM"!

[GODREKR]

Originally Posted by William May ↗

Just wondering if the boom fell with a "BOOM"!

Are you asking if the boom went "boom"?