Taiwan Train Crash Kills 34, Injures Dozens

TAIPEI - A passenger train smashed into a vehicle on its tracks and partially derailed outside a rail tunnel in Taiwan on Friday, and police said at least 34 people were killed and dozens injured. Survivors were climbing out windows and onto roofs to reach safety in the island's worst railway disaster in decades.

The crash occurred near the Toroko Gorge scenic area around 9 a.m. on a public holiday, and officials in Hualien county said rescue efforts were continuing. Media reported 350 passengers were on board. Reports said a truck or some type of service vehicle fell from a cliff and landed on the tracks, where a train emerging from a tunnel smashed into it. With much of the train still trapped in the tunnel, escaping passengers were forced to scale doors, windows and roofs to reach safety. The vehicle apparently hit after the locomotive had emerged, causing the greatest damage to cars 1-5, according to the rescue department of Hualien county.