Eight injured in morning MTR derailment

[sh33pymd 511]

Source: SCMP/On.cc/Youtube

A train was derailed near a major interchange in Hong Kong on Tuesday, leading to a partial suspension of the East Rail line and two investigations.

Services between Mong Kok East and Hung Hom stations were shut down from about 8.30am on Tuesday after three of the train’s 12 carriages came off the track, rail operator the MTR Corporation said. It was approaching Hong Hom when the accident happened. Eight of the about 500 passengers on board were injured, with one man and four women later sent to hospital with a sore neck or shoulders, or cuts to their arms, according to the fire service.

Calling the incident “extremely serious”, Secretary for Transport and Housing Frank Chan Fan, who was on the scene from about 10.30am, pledged a full official investigation, while MTR managers vowed to set up an investigative panel of their own. MTR Corp operations director Adi Lau Tin-shing apologised on behalf of the company. “For the inconvenience caused to our passengers due to this incident ... we offer our sincere apology. For our injured passengers, we extend our deepest sympathy,” Lau said. It was understood the derailment happened at a diverting point, where trains are directed to different platforms or other locations, their direction and speed controlled by computer.

According to documents seen by the Post, a section of rail between the two stations was scheduled to be replaced during Tuesday’s early hours. An insider source confirmed that the work went ahead, and was in the area where the derailment happened. Lau confirmed the work happened near the site of the accident, but said it was not on the same stretch of track. He also confirmed the authenticity of photographs circulating online of a crack in the rail, which had been speculatively blamed for the derailment. “We can’t be sure if the crack was the cause of the derailing,” he said, adding that it was too soon to tell whether it was there before the derailment, or caused by it. He also said he saw no link between the derailment and the fact that the train was heading into a diverting point.

Alfred Sit Wing-hang, director of the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department, which would investigate the accident on the government’s behalf, said he hoped the probe would be done in three to six months. “We are striving to conduct an independent, comprehensive and speedy investigation in order to get to the bottom of the truth,” he said. Pledging full cooperation, Lau said the MTR Corp would set up an investigative panel of external experts, which would also conduct an in-depth probe. He said his staff would first have to scour the train and track for evidence. Then they would have to arrange cranes to move the train so it could be sent back to the depot for further checks, he said.Chief of operations engineering Tony Lee Kar-yun said the removal would pose challenges as staff would have to move the battered carriages through a web of overhead electricity cables.Lau therefore expected repairs to take some time: “The services at Mong Kok East are unlikely to resume by today, although we will try our best.”Given the city’s ongoing anti-government protests, during which hardline demonstrators have taken aim at train stations, Chan was asked about the possibility the derailment was orchestrated by protesters. 

A female passenger described the moment of derailment as an explosion, before she was stretchered away from Hung Hom station. A man, who gave his surname as Kwok, was seen at the station in a wheelchair. He said he had knocked his head when the train derailed. Kwok told reporters he heard a strange noise, after which the carriage began shaking and veering from side to side. The carriage he was in held 40 to 50 passengers, mostly women, and at least one child. Kwok said he helped them leave before he was tended to by first-aid workers. Another man, who was on the carriage next to one that broke off, said there was no announcement or guidance from the train conductor or MTR staff and passengers made the decision to leave the carriage by themselves as dust, smoke and debris began filling the air.

Images circulating online showed passengers leaving the carriage, which stood across two sets of tracks, through a damaged train door. They were seen walking along the tracks to safety.A senior source at the corporation said earlier it had not found any suspicious objects on the track. The area where the derailment happened was closed off, the source added, hinting that it would have been difficult for anyone to get in and cause disruption.Lawmaker Lam Cheuk-ting urged the MTR Corp to thoroughly investigate the incident.“It is fortunate there have not been any serious injuries or casualties, but if the train was going at high speed, the situation could have been worse,” Lam said, speaking at a briefing outside the Legislative Council building. 

Pan-democrat lawmaker Wu Chi-wai, who was also at the briefing, said the MTR Corp should make sure the signalling system was working in sync with the track diversion system to prevent further incidents. Trains on the West Rail line were also affected, but normal service was resumed by 11.40am. Tuesday’s incident was the second time a train carrying passengers had derailed in the MTR Corp’s 40-year history.It was also the corporation’s second major incident this year. In March, two trains without passengers crashed during an out-of-hours service trial of a new signalling system near Central station, causing services between Central and Admiralty stations to close for 48 hours on the Tsuen Wan line. 

[Elven 20]

that is pretty serious accident. hopefully the MTR will investigate this incident and find out the cause.

[seanT101 19]

This is horrible but on the bright side no one got seriously injured.  Hopefully MTR found out the cause and come up with something to prevent this kind of incident in the future.

[cadburyho 18]

Yes, MTR should immediately check and find out what really happened. They need to assure the public that it will not happen again. Thousands of passengers take the train daily and such incident should not have happened. Luckily the train was not on high speed.

[mia88 4]

Wow, this is really crazy serious accident. Lucky no one got seriously injured