At least 49 killed in Taiwan railway crash

TAIPEI, Taiwan — It seemed at first like a freak accident.

A contractor was navigating a sharp turn on a sand-packed road. He had been hired to shore up a steep hillside on Taiwan’s east coast — any falling debris could be a safety hazard to the trains that rushed by below.

At the edge of the embankment, his truck got stuck. He and another worker tried to pull it free, using a cloth strap and an excavator. The strap snapped, and the truck tumbled down the hill onto the railway tracks.

About a minute later, Taroko Express No. 408 collided with the truck, killing 49 people and injuring more than 200.