Taipei, October 21: At least 17 passengers were killed and over 100 injured when a Taitung-bound train derailed in Yilan, the north-eastern county of Taiwan on Sunday. The accident took place between the Dongshan and Suxin stations at about 5pm local time, the semi-official Central News Agency reported.

The ill-fated train, Puyuma Express 6432, had departed from Shulin station in Taipei earlier in the day, and was scheduled to reach the eastern coastal county of Taitung later in the evening. A total of 310 passengers were on board, preliminary reports said. 61 Killed in Amritsar Train Accident.

According to officials, at least five rakes of the train went off the tracks Dongshan and Suxin stations, leading to fatal injuries to at least 17 people, whereas, over 100 are being treated at the nearby hospitals.

Rescue operations were underway by the time this report was published as an estimated 30-40 passengers are still feared to be trapped inside the bogeys in injured conditions.

The authorities in Taipei have rushed additional firefighting and relief workers to the site of accident to expedite the rescue operations. Photographs emerging from the site showed that five of the eight train coaches had fallen off, whereas, the remainder were suspended on one side of the wheels. The images also showed that a portion of tracks had pierced through the windows of some of the coaches.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Oct 21, 2018 05:25 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).