Tsai Pushes for a Swift Investigation on Puyuma Derailment|抵醫院探視傷患總統:儘速調查原因

發布時間：2018/10/22 16:33 更新時間：2018/10/22 17:29

Jake Chen

Following the Puyuma Express train accident, President Tsai Ing-wen arrived at the Suao Branch of the Taipei Veterans General Hospital the following day to visit the injured and to express her condolences to their family members. Tsai also demanded the government to find out the cause of the accident as soon as possible and to help allow traffic to resume in both directions.

At around 4:50 p.m. on Oct. 21 afternoon, Puyuma Express #6432 derailed between Dongshan and Suao stations. The rescue effort has been ongoing since. President Tsai Ing-wen arrived at the nearby Xinma station at 6:55 a.m. on Oct. 22. She had a grim look when listening to the latest briefing from the head of the Taiwan Railway Administration. Tsai has demanded the staff members on site to work hard to help allow traffic to resume in the area as soon as possible. She has also asked the Ministry of Transportation and members of investigative body to find out about the cause of the accident as soon as possible.

Those from the investigative body must find out the cause of the accident as soon as possible, including the situation before, during, and after the accident. We need to report to the public soon.

Tsai also went to the Suao Branch of the Taipei Veterans General Hospital, the Saint Mary's Hospital and the Bo-ai Hospital in Luodong to visit the injured passengers and to express condolence to the family members.

We are going to manage the situation by this afternoon. I'm very sorry. I hope to bring him back. I understand you hope to bring him back.

Premier William Lai arrived on the site of the derailment, in Suao Township, at around 11 p.m. on Oct. 21, in order to stay updated on the latest development. Lai also visited the injured passengers in nearby hospitals. Lai said that he will raise the level of investigation on the accident, and that he will hold discussion on whether to stop running the Puyuma trains if the accident was indeed caused by mechanical issues.

If the cause of the accident is from the train itself, we will have to take that into consideration. If the investigation reveals other causes, then there's no need to stop (the operation of the Puyuma Express trains). The investigation is being handled by professionals from the Ministry of Transportation.

In order to get to the bottom of the accident, the transportation committee at the Legislature has adjusted their schedule, and will report the latest development of the accident to the Minister of Transportation, Wu Hong-Mo, on Wednesday Oct. 24. Candidates for the upcoming local elections from both the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and opposition Kuomintang (KMT) have announced that they have paused their campaign and will focus on helping with the rescue effort. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs said that one American female passenger suffered minor injury during the accident, and that the United States, European Union, the U.K., Belgium and Haiti have expressed concerns and condolences for those who suffered loss in the accident.