A railway official has been sentenced to nearly nine years in jail for failing to properly supervise a construction project that went awry and led to Taiwan’s deadliest train crash in 70 years, the Taiwan Hualien District Court ruled Friday.
Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA) official Pan Tang-yi (潘堂益), who was responsible for supervising the project near the crash site, received eight years and 10 months in jail on charges of negligence causing death and the production of false official documents, according to the ruling.
The crash, which occurred on April 2, 2021, was triggered when a crane truck at the construction site above southbound railway tracks in eastern Taiwan fell onto the tracks below and was smashed into by an approaching express train a minute later.
The collision caused the train to derail as it entered a tunnel, resulting in the deaths of 49 people and injuries to more than 200 others.
The crane truck got stuck in bushes and stalled on a sharp curve on a construction access road near the slope, and when site manager Lee Yi-hsiang (李義祥) tried to pull the truck loose using a woven belt, the belt snapped, sending the truck tumbling down the hill and onto the tracks.
Lee did not try to notify the TRA before the express train crashed, and the train’s driver did not see the truck soon enough to slow down the train before the collision occurred.
The court found Pan negligent because he failed to demand the project’s contractor to make the necessary safety improvements on the site.
The improvements included taking measures above the slope to prevent the possibility of items falling to the tracks below and following the project’s drawings that called for a smooth access road to be built, the court said.
Pan and others should also have built a less winding road for easier truck operation given their previous experience in supervising construction projects, the court added.
In addition, the court found Pan negligent because he knew Lee was working at the site on April 2, even though Lee should not have been there because it was a holiday.
Pan was also found guilty by the court for falsely reporting that the project was making progress despite knowing that it was severely delayed.
Lee, meanwhile, who was the site manager and driver of the truck involved in the accident, got seven years and 10 months in jail for negligence causing death and violations of the Government Procurement Act, the court ruled.
Lee, who was originally indicted on eight different charges and was considered the main suspect in the accident, was found not guilty of the other charges, including hit-and-run.
Likewise, Vietnamese migrant worker Hoa Van Hao, who tried to help Lee as he attempted to pull the truck free was cleared of the only charge against him, which was negligence causing death.
The court found him not guilty because he did not have a key role in trying to move the crane truck. His only role, the court said, was to place rocks in front of the truck’s tires to prevent it from tumbling down the slope.
In response, family members of the victims said they refused to accept the judgment, arguing that Lee and Hoa were guilty for the “indirect intention” to cause the crash by not following standard operating procedures, such as notifying the TRA to stop oncoming trains.
A family member surnamed Chin (秦) said the sentences were unacceptable, as it basically meant that each of the 49 victims got only a two month-jail term from Lee in compensation.
The Taiwan Hualien District Prosecutors Office said it will appeal the verdict and seek heavier penalties for Lee and Hoa.
Meanwhile, asked by reporters to comment on the case during a press event promoting the TRA’s boxed lunches on Friday, Transportation Minister Wang Kwo-tsai (王國材) said he respected the court’s decision.
He reiterated that safety reform is the TRA’s top priority, and said that by exploring other sources of income, such as sales of the boxed meals, more resources could be devoted to safety improvement efforts.
Friday’s ruling also found the other six defendants in the case guilty, primarily individuals who worked for the project’s general contractor, Tung Hsin Construction Co., and other subcontractors.
They received jail terms ranging from 10 months to seven years and two months, according to the court.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel