TAIPEI/TOKYO: Two Japanese nationals are among people injured in a deadly express train crash that occurred in eastern Taiwan on Friday, it was learned.

According to the Japan-Taiwan Exchange Association’s Taipei office, the two Japanese — a man in his 50s and his daughter in her 20s — suffered minor injuries.

The crash killed 50 people, including two crew members, and 146 others were injured and sent to hospital, according to the operator of the train, Taiwan Railways Administration.

The eight-car express train, carrying about 490 passengers, was heading for Taitung County from New Taipei City and apparently crashed into a vehicle that fell onto the railway tracks from a hill.

In a Twitter post, Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihide Suga expressed sorrow for people killed in the accident and sympathy for those injured.

The train was manufactured by Japan’s Hitachi Ltd.

The latest crash may remind people in Taiwan of a deadly accident in October 2018 involving a train produced by Nippon Sharyo Ltd., also a Japanese company.

A Hitachi official said: “It’s true that the train was made by Hitachi. But we’re unaware of the cause of the accident, so I can’t make comment.”

It took two years for Taiwan to release the final investigation report on the October 2018 crash, in which 18 people were killed and 291 were injured.

Although that accident was found to have been linked to administrative issues, a damages lawsuit has been filed against the train maker, Nippon Sharyo.

Hitachi supplied a total of 48 train cars to Taiwan in 2006-2007. In 2015, the firm received an order from Taiwanese authorities for 16 additional cars.

JIJI Press