At least 36 lives have been lost after a train collided with a truck inside a tunnel.
Train collides with truck inside tunnel
A speeding train that derailed inside a tunnel has killed at least 36 persons in Taiwan.
It was gathered that the train collided with a truck resulting in the death of many people.
Some 70 passengers remain trapped inside the mangled carriages, while another 40 have been rushed to hospital, after the train crashed outside the city of Hualien on Friday.
The express train was packed with around 350 people, many of whom were standing, as it carried tourists who were heading home at the start of the long weekend.
Images of the crash scene show train carriages ripped apart and crumpled against the sides of the tunnel, preventing rescuers from reaching passengers.
Many people who were standing for the journey were thrown about when it crashed.
Between 80 to 100 people were evacuated from the first four carriages of the train, while carriages five to eight have 'deformed' and are hard to gain access to, the fire department said.
'Is everyone out in carriage four?' a lady is heard shouting from inside the tunnel, in footage provided by the fire department.
The official Central News Agency said a truck that was 'not parked properly' was suspected of sliding into the path of the train from a nearby construction site.
Pictures from the scene showed the back of a yellow flatbed truck on its side next to the train.
'Our train crashed into a truck,' one man said in a video aired on Taiwanese television, showing pictures of the wreckage. 'The truck came falling down.'
People further back in the train were able to walk away from the crash comparatively unscathed.
One injured passengers was seen being stretchered out of the train with her head and neck in a brace.
People further back in the train were able to walk away from the crash comparatively unscathed.