Train Wreck In Taiwan Claims 41 Lives

• Passengers are  travelling to celebrate the Tomb Sweeping festival

No fewer than 41 persons reportedly died on Friday  when a passenger train in eastern Taiwan derailed and crashed into a tunnel.

The derailment of the train, which was conveying about 490 people, also left many injured,authorities in the southeast Asia have disclosed.

The eight-carriage train, said to be full, reportedly hit a construction vehicle that had slipped onto the tracks at the tunnel’s mouth.

According to reports, many of the passengers are  travelling to celebrate the Tomb Sweeping festival where people pay their respect to deceased family members.

According to Taiwan authorities, rescue efforts are ongoing to rescue passengers that are still trapped inside the carriages that were badly damaged in the accident.

More than 80 people have been reportedly evacuated from the front four carriages of the train hours after the crash, but about eight carriages were said to be “deformed” and “hard to access”.

The train driver is said to be among the dead.

Taiwan President Tsai ING-wen said the country’s emergency services have been deployed in the scene of the crash.

” In response to a train derailment in Hualien, Taiwan, our emergency services have been fully mobilized to rescue & assist the passengers & railway staff affected. We will continue to do everything we can to ensure their safety in the wake of this heartbreaking incident, ” he tweeted.

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