Taiwan court: Excessive speed caused deadly train derailment
TAIPEI, Taiwan — Excessive speed was the main cause of the derailment of a train in Taiwan that killed 18 people and injured scores of others, a district court said Tuesday.
The train entered a curve in eastern Taiwan on Sunday afternoon at 140 kilometres (87 miles) per hour, almost twice the speed limit for that section of track, the Yilan County district court said in a statement.
The train’s driver has been placed under investigation on suspicion of negligence leading to death.
The driver, Yu Cheng-chung, had disabled the automatic train protection system after sensing “abnormal movements” in acceleration, the court statement said. The system would have allowed him to brake, and without it the driver was left to control the train by hand, it said.