Truck owner Lee Yi-hsiang offers a public apology before he is led away by police in Hualien, Taiwan. Screenshot / EBC via AP
Truck owner Lee Yi-hsiang offers a public apology before he is led away by police in Hualien, Taiwan. Screenshot / EBC via AP
The owner of a construction truck that caused Taiwan's worst rail accident in decades, killing 48 people, apologised in tears while being led away from his home by police today.
The unmanned truck's emergency brake was not properly engaged, according to the Government's disaster relief centre.
An investigation is underway as to how exactly Lee Yi-Hsiang's vehicle slid down on to the tracks on Friday (Saturday NZT) from a nearby construction site on the mountainous coast of eastern Hualien county.
The truck was hit by a passenger train carrying 494 people, which derailed just before entering a tunnel, crushing many passengers inside the mangled train carriages.
The train derailed just before entering a tunnel, killing 48. Photo / AP
The death toll was revised down to 48 on Sunday, after rescuers initially said 51, then 50 people were killed. At least 198 people were injured.
"I have caused a serious accident on the Taiwan Railway Administrations' Taroko train number 480 during this year's Tomb Sweeping Holidays, causing deaths and injuries, to this I express my remorse and my sincerest apologies," said Lee, who is also the construction site's manager, his words muffled by a face mask and by emotion.
"I will cooperate with the authorities' investigation fully, and take responsibility."
Prosecutors in Hualien county previously said they were seeking an arrest warrant for the truck's owner, who was questioned along with several others.
A distressed woman is carried away from the accident scene near Taroko Gorge in Hualien, Taiwan. Photo / AP
The Hualien district court initially allowed Lee to post bail of TWD$500,000 (NZ$24,920), but that decision was reversed on Sunday when a higher court in Hualien rescinded the lower court's decision to allow bail, Taiwan's Central News Agency reported.
Train travel is popular during Taiwan's four-day Tomb Sweeping holiday, when families often return to their home towns to pay respects at the gravesites of their elders. It's also an opportunity to take a vacation.
Taiwan is a mountainous island, and most of its 24 million people live in the flatlands along the northern and western coasts that are home to most of the island's farmland, biggest cities and high-tech industries.
The lightly populated east where the crash happened is popular as a tourist destination, and the railway line is known for its beautiful natural scenery.
