TAIPEI: The truck which was involved in the fatal Taiwanese express train crash last week, killing 50 people, slid onto the tracks only around one minute before the accident happened, the government said on Tuesday (Apr 6), as it released dramatic footage of the impact.

The packed train carrying almost 500 passengers and crew slammed into a truck near the eastern city of Hualien on Friday, causing it to derail and the front and middle parts to crumple. It was the island’s worst rail accident in seven decades.

The truck had slid down a sloping road from a building site onto the tracks just outside a tunnel. Officials suspect the truck’s brakes were not properly applied and are investigating the manager of the site.

Young Hong-tsu, chairman of Taiwan’s Transportation Safety Board, said they had reconstructed how the truck had ended up on the rails, tracking its movements down the dirt road before it slipped off a bank and landed on the railway line, its front end facing the oncoming train.

Young showed recovered footage taken from inside the driver’s cabin as he desperately tried to slow down before hitting the truck at the entrance to the tunnel, causing the train to derail.

“How much time was there between this truck sliding onto the track and it hitting the Taroko express? Actually it was only a little bit more than one minute,” he said, referring to the name of the train.

Young said the driver had no time to properly slow the train and avoid the accident as he had only seconds to react, the truck being on a bend and not visible until it was too late.

In a screenshot from the footage, the truck is clearly seen straddling the track, with leaves and branches sticking out of its front from when it slid down the wooded bank.

READ: Workers remove more wreckage from deadly Taiwan train crash

The victims included two Americans and one French national.

Young said Taiwanese authorities had been in touch with the US National Transportation Safety Board and France’s transport safety body to see if they were interested in helping with the investigation.
Source:

Reuters/lk

The Health Ministry today reported 1,300 new Covid-19 cases with Sabah reporting new cases in the triple digits for the first time in 16 days.

The number of new cases in East Malaysia (38.6 percent) exceeded that of the Klang Valley (25.5 percent) which has been gradually on the decline.

Malaysians made up the bulk of the new cases (71.5 percent). 

• Active cases: 14,161
• Patients in ICUs: 189
• Intubated: 88

Cases by states

According to a tweet by Sabah Local Government and Housing Minister Masidi Manjun, of the 112 new cases in Sabah, more than half (69 new cases) were reported in Tawau alone.

Sarawak reported the highest number of new cases (385) followed by Selangor (242) and Kelantan (126).

The relatively high number of new cases in Sarawak was detected mostly through existing clusters and close contacts. 

Sarawak is the fifth worse hit region in terms of the total number of Covid-19 cases and deaths. However, its Covid-19 deaths are disproportionately higher than that of the Klang Valley.

The Health Ministry also reported an R-naught figure of more than one at the national level for three days straight.

Currently, Perlis, Terengganu, Negeri Sembilan, Kuala Lumpur, Johor, Penang and Selangor have a R-naught figure of less than one. 

Deaths

There were another five Covid-19 related deaths reported today. The national death toll currently stands at 1,300. 

The victims were reported to be from Selangor (1), Sabah (3) and Kelantan (1). The youngest was a Malaysian citizen, 36, from Sabah.

Details of the victims are available on Malaysiakini’s Covid-19 tracker site.

Clusters

The Health Ministry has reported 354 Covid-19 clusters in the country of which 62 had new cases today.

The single cluster with the most number of cases was the Tembok Sri Aman cluster which involves a prison in Sarawak and was classified two days ago.

Of the 10 new clusters that were classified today, three involved community clusters – Palekbang, Peruda and Belaoh – and one involved a religious event – Belacon.

Details of the new clusters are as follow:

Integrasi Rawang Tiga cluster
District(s): Gombak in Selangor
Locality/Source: Construction company at Jalan Industri 3/6, Rawang Intergrated Industrial Park, Rawang
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: April 5, targeted screening
Total infected: 13 out of 18 screened

Jalan Badli Shah cluster
District(s): Petaling, Klang and Hulu Langat in Selangor
Locality/Source: A government facility at Jalan Tengku Badli Shah 9/21, Seksyen 9, Shah Alam
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: March 27, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 21 out of 244 screened

Jalan Maju cluster
District(s): Sibu in Sarawak
Locality/Source: Vicinity of Jalan Maju, Sibu
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: March 27, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 34 out of 80 screened

Jalan Kota Kubang Labu cluster
District(s): Kota Bharu and Bachok in Kelantan
Locality/Source: A service provider at Jalan Kota Kubang Labu, Tumpat
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: March 30, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 26 out of 318 screened

Jalan Mega Industri cluster
District(s): Johor Bahru in Johor
Locality/Source: A factory at Jalan Mega 1/8, Taman Perindustrian Nusa Cemerlang, Gelang Patah, Johor Bahru
Cluster category: Workplace
First case: April 5, targeted screening
Total infected: 21 out of 41 screened

Kampung Palekbang cluster
District(s): Tumpat in Kelantan
Locality/Source: Index case’s residence at Kampung Palekbang, Tumpat
Cluster category: Community
First case: March 31, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 28 out of 42 screened

Taman Peruda cluster
District(s): Kuala Muda in Kedah
Locality/Source: Vicinity of aman Peruda, Sungai Petani, Kuala Muda
Cluster category: Community
First case: April 2, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 16 out of 37 screened

Kampung Belaoh cluster
District(s): Besut in Terengganu
Locality/Source: Vicinity of Kampung Belaoh, Besut
Cluster category: Community
First case: April 4, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 6 out of 81 screened

Padang Hijau cluster
District(s): Kluang in Johor
Locality/Source: Detention centre in Padang Hijau
Cluster category: Detention centre
First case: April 6, screening of detainees in transit
Total infected: 12 out of 17 screened

Belacon cluster
District(s): Lahad Datu and Tawau in Sabah
Locality/Source: Vicinity of Kampung Bukit Belacon, Lahad Datu
Cluster category: Religious event
First case: April 5, index case with symptoms
Total infected: 17 out of 196 screened

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Source:Malaysiaki