3 killed 12 hurt after car hits group near Taiwan school

TAIPEI – A car ploughed into a group of mostly students outside a school in Taiwan on May 19, killing at least three people and injuring 12, the police said.

The incident took place near Taipei at around 4pm, when a car driven by a 78-year-old man ran a red light and collided with three motorbikes and a bicycle, before hitting the students and adults.

Videos shared by the police show people doing chest compressions on victims lying on the street, emergency personnel carrying away the injured, and the motorbikes and bicycle on their sides.

Sheets of paper and other debris were strewn across the intersection.

“For unknown reasons, the vehicle accelerated suddenly,” the police said in a statement.

A total of 15 people, including the driver, were taken to three hospitals with injuries of “varying severity”, the police said.

Three later died in hospital, including two 12-year-old girls and a 40-year-old woman.

The driver was unconscious and had tested negative for alcohol, the police said.

Nine of the victims were students aged 12 to 15 from Sanxia Junior High School. The youngest, aged six, was from a nearby kindergarten.

President Lai Ching-te was “shocked and saddened”, according to a statement issued by the Presidential Office.

Mr Lai visited the victims in hospital on the night of May 19. He has ordered a task force to be set up to help victims and their families and to investigate the cause of the incident.

New Taipei City Mayor Hou Yu-ih, who also went to the hospitals, said some of the victims were “still receiving intensive treatment”.

He added: “We will clarify the responsibility as soon as possible and give the public an explanation.” AFP