Taiwan Train Accident Was Caused By The Truck Which Hit the Tracks a Minute before the Train Reach Impact
source bbc
source bbc
The fatal train accident which causes Taiwan’s worst train crash and killed at least 50 people was revealed that the train had 1 minute before hitting the truck and the train operator has done all he could to stop the crash with the speed and momentum of the high-speed train.
The TTSB’s recovery team had dispatched over 20 people on the past four days for investigation and searching for evidence at the site and they manage to retrieve the train’s video cameras from the first and last carriages. They have also successfully retrieved the memory card from the dashcam of the construction truck with caused the crash, where the truck slipped down from an embankment, and prosecutors are now working to determine whether the truck driver failed to secure the parking brake or if the truck suffered from a mechanical failure.
The train’s control system showed Mr. Yuan attempting to stop the 408 Taroko Express which was traveling at 125kmph when it left a tunnel that was about to enter into Daqingshui Tunnel near the eastern coastal city of Hualien. The train, according to the officials, would have required a distance of 600m, or 16.6 seconds, to fully stop. But when the truck came into view, Mr. Yuan had only 6.9 seconds – with a distance of around 250m – to act. He could only lower the train’s speed to 121kmph.
Mr. Tseng Ren-song who headed the accident investigation at TTSB said that the truck owner had stopped the truck service from the original Japanese manufacturer Hino Motors for repairs after 2009 and the brake was refitted with a generic type which engineers at Hino said was not acceptable. While the truck owner, Lee Yi-hsiang told the police that he went to check on the construction site alone and had pulled up the truck’s handbrake after he parked.
Investigator has pulled surveillance camera footage from the highway nearby which show several construction vehicles enter into the construction site and from dashcam footage from the truck, the investigators discovered that he had left the engine idling which the truck slipped from point one to two and it got caught on some bushes and the engine die. While the fact that the truck engine was left idling drew a lot of attention from the local media and currently TTSB is working with Hualien’s prosecutors on the case.
source cnn