Taipei, April 28: A small train derailed Wednesday in a mountainous area of Taiwan, killing at least five women tourists and injuring over 100, officials said.
The accident took place in the Ali Mountain area.
The deceased were tourists from the Chinese mainland, Xinhua reported citing Taiwan authorities.
A passenger said a tree branch broke and hit the last carriage that caused several carriages to overturn.
“There was a loud clattering sound, and we thought it was an earthquake. But later we found that huge tree branches smashed into a carriage,” said Chen Zhenbin, from China’s Zhejiang province, at a hospital in Chiayi city.
“The sixth, seventh and eighth carriages overturned, but our carriage was stopped by the trees at the side of the road and didn’t roll too far,” he said.
Ali Mountain is one of Taiwan’s premier tourist attractions. Nine years ago, a similar train accident occurred near the location of Wednesday’s accident, killing 17 people and injuring over 150.
—–IAns