YILAN (Taiwan): At least 18 people were killed after an express train derailed and flipped over on a popular tourist route in Taiwan on Sunday, in the island’s worst rail accident for more than 25 years.

Images from the site showed the Puyuma Express train completely derailed and lying zigzagged across the track in north-eastern Yilan county.

All of the train’s eight carriages had derailed and five had flipped onto their side near Xinma station, the railways administration said, adding that 366 people were on board the service en route to the southern city of Taitung.

The emergency response centre said 168 people were injured in the accident, which happened at 4:50pm local time.

“There are four carriages that were overturned at 90 degrees and the worst casualties were in those carriages,” Jason Lu, head of the Taiwan Railways Administration, told reporters. “The cause of the accident is pending investigation,” he added.

Taiwan’s central emergency response centre late on Sunday revised down to 18 the previous official death toll of 22, without immediately explaining the reason.

Bodies were seen being carried out of the wrecked carriages by rescue workers earlier on Sunday evening.

Cranes were brought in to lift the carriages from the tracks one by one in a search for any remaining passengers.

Chang Yi-long, 62, said he had “heard a loud bang” at the time of the accident while he was working at a construction site nearby. When he arrived at the scene he saw local residents helping passengers escape the wreckage.

Footage broadcast on local television showed passengers smashing a window from inside and kicking it through to escape. “I smashed the safety glass and crawled out and I helped to pull a young man out. There was a person sitting behind me. I’m not sure she survived,” a passenger told reporters.

Another passenger told Apple Daily Taiwan that the train had put on its “emergency brake” twice on the journey and that the electricity supply had been patchy.

Hong Kong’s broadcaster RTHK quoted another passenger saying the train had been preparing to accelerate before overturning and had been shaking intensely, adding that some passengers were asleep at the time of the accident.

The defence ministry said it had sent in 120 soldiers to help the rescue effort.

Published in Dawn, October 22nd, 2018