At least 18 dead, 164 injured in Taiwan train derailment

Photo taken on Oct. 21, 2018 shows the train derailment site in Yilan County, southeast China's Taiwan. (Xinhua/Jin Liangkuai)

TAIPEI, Oct. 21 (Xinhua) -- At least 18 people died and another 164 injured as of 11 p.m. Sunday, after a passenger train derailed in Taiwan earlier in the afternoon, according to the island's railway authority.

The Puyuma Express No. 6432 bound for Taitung from Shulin Station with 366 passengers on board derailed at 4:50 p.m. at Xinma Station, Yilan County. Seventeen people were declared dead before being sent to hospital.

All eight cars of the express train derailed, with three of them overturned. The cause of the derailment is still under investigation.

The accident, the worst of Taiwan railways in more than three decades, happened on a popular line along the island's east coast. Train services in both directions have been halted.

One American citizen was injured while the rest are all from Taiwan, according to the local railway authority.

The injured passengers were rushed to four local hospitals for treatment.

The Puyuma Express has an operational maximum speed of 130 kph.