The crash occurred near the Taroko Gorge scenic area on the first day of a long holiday weekend when many people were using Taiwan’s extensive rail system. The train had been carrying almost 500 people. Images from the scene showed derailed train cars wedged against the walls of the tunnel; part of the wall of one car had smashed into a seat.“Many people were crushed under train seats in the collision, and there were other people on top of the seats, so those at the bottom were pressed and crushed and lost consciousness,” a passenger with gauze taped to her elbow told Taiwan broadcaster EBC. “At the beginning, they still responded when we called them. But I guess they lost consciousness afterward.”The local fire service confirmed the death toll, which included the train’s young, newly married driver, and said all aboard had now been accounted for. More than 100 people were injured, it said.Both the Taiwan Affairs Office of the State Council and the Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits expressed their condolences over the accident.“We are deeply concerned about the rescue progress,” said Ma Xiaoguang, a spokesperson for the office, on Friday.
