Driver dead after car crushed by train

firefighter with car crushed under train
Traffic Accidents 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment ,

A man died after crashing his car and landing on railway tracks before being hit by a train in Chiayi County last night, April 7. At around 11:40 pm a 40-year-old resident of Tainan City, named Hsu was traveling northbound on Provincial Highway 1 in Shuishang Township, Chiayi County when he lost control of his vehicle and crashed into a roadside tree. Hsu’s black Toyota Altis sedan flew over a 1.5-meter-high fence onto railway tracks, and was then hit by

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2 bodies found after Korean tug goes missing in the Taiwan Strait

Unpowered ship section after push tug missing in the Taiwan Strait
Marine and Fisheries 
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Taiwan’s National Coast Guard Administration personnel recovered two bodies this morning during a search for a Korean-owned pusher tug with six crew aboard that went missing after sending a distress call yesterday, April 8. The Sierra Leone-flagged tug Kyoto No. 1 was en route from the Port of Busan, Korea to Batam, Indonesia via the Taiwan Strait when the crew sent a distress signal from a position close to the Penghu Islands at 9:50 am, Thursday. Taiwan’s National Rescue Command

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Video shows excavator operator run for his life as silo collapses the wrong way on demolition site

excavator operator running for his life as silo collapses
Health and Safety 
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Video footage emerged today showing the driver of an excavator using a wrecking ball to demolish a silo in southern Taiwan abandoning his vehicle and running for his life as the 52-meter-tall structure started to fall in his direction yesterday, April 1. Contractors working on the demolition project at the Southeast Cement Corporation site in Nanzi District, Kaohsiung City appear to have seriously breached regulations and safety standards in the lead up to the accident, Kaohsiung Public Works Bureau said

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Thousands of passengers affected after industrial accident cuts power to High Speed Rail

composite showing HSR trains and stranded passengers
Business and Economy 
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Thousands of passengers were left temporarily stranded in Kaohsiung City and Tainan City after an industrial accident caused a high voltage tower to collapse, cutting power to High Speed Rail services between Tainan and Zuoying stations on the eve of the four day Tomb Sweeping Festival long weekend, today, Friday, April 1. At around 3:35 pm, contractors were using a wrecking ball to demolish a silo at a disused Southeast Cement Company plant adjacent to the high speed rail track

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Taiwan’s first Tesla police cars debut in Kaohsiung City

two Tesla model 3 police cars
Breaking News 
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Police received two Tesla electric cars to be used as police cars at a handover ceremony in Kaohsiung City today, and they are the first Teslas to be used as police vehicles in Taiwan. Ching Chan Optical Technology and the Tianzhen Foundation donated the two Tesla Model 3 cars worth NT$3.3 million to help police with the work of detection and prevention of crime. One car will be used by the criminal investigation team in Hunei District, and the other

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Evergreen container ship “Ever Forward” hasn’t budged for 17 days since grounding on US east coast

Evergreen Marine Ever Forward container ship aground on US east coast with US Coast Guard vessel and personnel in foreground
Marine and Fisheries 
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An Evergreen container ship is still stuck after several attempts to move it, including dredging the muddy bottom, since it ran aground more than two weeks ago. The 334-meter-long 12,000 TEU Ever Forward, owned by Evergreen Hong Kong, a subsidiary of Taiwanese shipping and transportation giant Evergreen Marine Corporation, became stranded after grounding in shallow water north of Chesapeake Bay, shortly after leaving the Port of Baltimore on March 13 bound for Norfolk, Virginia. The vessel and cargo did not

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Chinese city officials rescind order to cull COVID patients’ pets after public outrage

composite image showing alleged pet cull and order to kill pets
International 
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Municipal health authorities in a city in Hebei Province, China said that they have rescinded an order to cull the pets of people who test positive for COVID-19, after a copy of the order went viral on social media, sparking outrage among citizens. China’s Sina.com reported that the document titled “Urgent Notice on Rapidly Carrying Out the Work of Culling of Domestic Animals of Positive Patients” was issued by the “Epidemic Prevention and Control Leading Group Office” in Anci District,

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Body of former Pegatron VP found on fourth day of search: autopsy reveals fatal injuries

composite image showing search party and missing hiker
Society 
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Search and rescue personnel yesterday found the body of a retired tech company executive who went missing while hiking Saturday, March 26, and an autopsy today revealed that he had died after falling and breaking his neck. Search team members from the New Taipei Fire Department found the body of Tsai Chin-kuo at the bottom of a slope around 50 meters below a hiking trail in the Manyueyuan National Forest Recreation Area in Sanxia District, New Taipei City, at around

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Taiwanese man will volunteer helping refugees after application to fight for Ukraine rejected

Wang Ruiti
International 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment

A Taiwanese man said that he plans to do humanitarian work helping Ukrainian refugees in Poland after being informed that his application to join the International Legion of Territorial Defense of Ukraine had been rejected. Wang Ruiti (王芮緹) went to Finland to apply to join the Ukrainian Foreign Volunteer Army recently. While waiting for his application, Wang traveled to Lithuania by boat and bicycle. After arriving in Lithuania, Wang inquired about his application at the Ukrainian Embassy, but was informed

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Search for missing retired Pegatron VP enters third day

composite image showing search party and missing hiker
Society 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

133 search and rescue personnel gathered at a trailhead in New Taipei City this morning before dividing into search parties to cover 12 routes as a search for a missing hiker enters the third day today, Tuesday, March 29. Tsai Chin-kuo (蔡進國), the 64-year-old former senior vice-president of the Taiwanese electronics manufacturing company Pegatron, was reported missing Sunday, after failing to return from a one-day hike in the Manyueyuan National Forest Recreation Area in Sanxia District on Saturday, March 26.

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Police officer shot: arrests suspect before going to hospital

composite image showing arrest and handgun
Crime and Criminals 
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A police officer was shot in the leg by a suspect, but made sure the shooter was handcuffed and arrested before he sought medical attention in New Taipei City last night, March 28. A group of seven police detectives from Tamsui Police Precinct went to Linkou District to arrest a 42-year-old man, named Chen, wanted on suspicion of fraud. When the officers approached Chen in the basement carpark of a residential community on Wenhua Road at around 8:30 pm, Chen

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