In this image taken from video, Lee Yi-hsiang, the driver of the truck that caused the train accident on April 2, 2021, offers a public apology in Hualien, Taiwan, April 4, 2021. (EBC VIA AP)
HUALIEN, Taiwan -The manager of a construction site whose truck slid onto rail tracks causing a catastrophic train crash in Taiwan accepted responsibility for the disaster on Sunday, as did the island’s transport chief, although his offer to resign was rejected for now.
In the island’s worst rail accident in seven decades, 50 people have been confirmed dead after a packed express 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 part to crumple.
The victims include two Americans and one French national.
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The truck that the train hit had slid down a sloping road onto the track just outside a tunnel. Officials are investigating the manager of the construction site, Lee Yi-hsiang, whose truck is suspected of not having its brakes properly applied. Lee had been released on bail.
Lee read out a statement apologizing for what happened as police took him away from his residence, Taiwan media reported.
I deeply regret this and express my deepest apologies. I will definitely cooperate with the prosecutors and police in the investigation, accept the responsibility that should be borne, and never shirk it. Finally, I once again express my sincerest apologies.
Lee Yi-hsiang, whose truck is suspected of not having its brakes properly applied, leading to the deadly train crash on April 2
“I deeply regret this and express my deepest apologies,” he said. “I will definitely cooperate with the prosecutors and police in the investigation, accept the responsibility that should be borne, and never shirk it. Finally, I once again express my sincerest apologies.”
Speaking earlier in the day at the crash site overlooking the ocean and backed by precipitous mountains, the island’s transport chief Lin Chia-lung said he too would “not avoid” responsibility.
“I am also in charge of minimizing the damage caused by the entire accident. After the whole rescue work is completed, I believe I will take the responsibility,” he said.
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The office of Su Tseng-chang, the chief of Taiwan's executive body, said Lin had made a verbal offer to resign on Saturday, but Su had rejected it for the time being, saying efforts for now should focus on rescue and recovery.
Rescuers were trying on Monday to retrieve the last body from the wreckage.
The transport authorities are facing a number of questions, including why there was no proper fencing at the site and whether too many standing-only tickets were sold for the train journey.
The families of the victims in a train crash mourn in a ceremony near the site of the accident at Taroko Gorge in Hualien, Taiwan, April 3, 2021. (CHIANG YING-YING/AP)
‘SO ANGRY’
The uncle of the youngest confirmed victim, a 5-year-old girl, tearfully told reporters he was still waiting for an apology for the accident. “I’m so angry,” he said.
The government has promised compensation and said it will do everything it can to help survivors and their relatives, including coordinating public donations.
The damaged section of the track is not expected to reopen until April 20 at the earliest, though rail traffic continues on a parallel track that runs through another tunnel and was not affected by the accident.
The accident occurred at the start of a long weekend for the traditional Tomb Sweeping Day, when people return home to tend to family graves.
Survivors have described terrible scenes inside the wreck.
Priest Sung Chih-chiang told Reuters what surviving passenger Chung Hui-mei had told him.
“She could not find her daughter. When she yelled, she found her daughter was under the steel panels. She put her effort to move those pieces one by one, but her daughter’s voice became quieter and quieter, and then there was no response,” he said.
