18 dead, 187 injured in Taiwan train derailment

TAIPEI - At least 18 people died and some 187 injured as of Monday morning, after a passenger train derailed in Taiwan earlier in the afternoon, according to the island's railway authority.

Authorities in Taiwan have lowered the death toll in a train derailment to 18.

The National Fire Agency had earlier cited the Cabinet spokesman's office as saying 22 people were killed when the Puyuma express train went off the tracks late Sunday afternoon, but later lowered the toll to 18, saying there was a mistake in the calculations.

Some 187 others including two female passengers from the mainland were injured in the disaster. One of the two mainland passengers, aged 44 and surnamed Yao, remained in critical condition. The other, aged 55 and surnamed Tan, was slightly injured and has been discharged from hospital.

The train was carrying more than 366 passengers from a suburb of Taipei toward Taitung, a city on Taiwan's southeast coast, when it derailed at 4:50 pm.

All eight cars of the express train derailed, with three of them overturned. The cause of the derailment is still under investigation.

Authorities are investigating the cause of the derailment.