At least 48 people killed in Taiwan train accident


At least 48 people died in Taiwan after a vehicle rolled down a hill and hit a passing train on Friday, causing it to partially derail outside a tunnel. Dozens of people were injured.
The train had partially emerged from the tunnel, with many cars remaining inside. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen tweeted that 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."
The accident occurred on the first day of the annual Tomb Sweeping Festival, a four-day religious festival when people return to their hometowns for family gatherings and to pay respects at their ancestors' graves. Taiwanese Premier Su Tseng-chang said the Railways Administration would conduct checks on track lines to "prevent this from happening again."
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Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.
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