At Least 51 Killed In Taiwan Train Crash, Suspect Released On Bond

The suspect in connection to a train crash in Taiwan that killed at least 51 people has been released on bond.

Lee Yi-hsiang, the manager of a construction site whose truck is believed by authorities to have caused the accident, was released on a bond of T$500,000 ($17,525), although he is restricted from leaving Taiwan for eight months and must stay in Hualien, where the crash occurred, Yahoo! News reports.

An express train hit the truck after it slid down a bank beside the track from the building site and authorities believe the manager is responsible for failing to properly engage the truck's brake, leading to one of the worst rail accidents in seven decades.

The train was carrying nearly 500 passengers traveling from Taipei, Taiwan's capital city, to Taitung when it was derailed in the city of Hualien, leaving 41 passengers hospitalized among the 188 reported injured.

Prosecutors aimed to have Yi-hsiang detained on charges of causing death by negligence, a justice ministry confirmed to reporters via Yahoo! News. However, the court ruled that while the truck's fall into the train's path could possibly be caused by negligence, there was "no possibility of conspiracy" involving the manager in relation to the accident.

A government-issued casualty list obtained by Yahoo! News confirmed the youngest victim killed in the crash was a 6-year-old girl and the oldest was a 79-year-old man.

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