Smell of smoke S porean recounts train ride past Taipei station as deadly attack started to unfold
Smell of smoke: S’porean recounts train ride past Taipei station as deadly attack started to unfold
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alt="Police and emergency personnel outside the main train station in Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, after a man tossed smoke grenades and lunged at bystanders with a large knife on Friday night, Dec. 19, 2025, according to the city police. The assailant later died after fleeing and then jumping off a building, police said. (Billy H.C. Kwok/The New York Times)"/>During the evening rush hour on Dec 19, a 27-year-old suspect set off multiple smoke bombs in Taipei’s main subway station before going on a stabbing rampage.
PHOTO: BILLY H.C. KWOK/NYTIMES
Ann Chen
TaiwanSINGAPORE – For Singaporean Ming Wing Cheong on holiday in Taipei, the first sign that something was amiss on Dec 19 was when the train he was on abruptly stopped between stations.
An announcement over the train’s broadcast system then said the train would be skipping the next stop, Taipei Main Station, because of a fire, he recalled.
As the train travelled past Taipei Main Station, Mr Ming detected the smell of smoke. “The doors were closed and the train did not stop, but I could smell the smoke,” he said.
The 43-year-old educator, as well as the other passengers on the train, did not know it then, but a deadly attack was starting to unfold at Taipei Main Station
A suspect had set off multiple smoke bombs in the station during rush hour on the evening of Dec 19.
For Mr Ming, the second sign that something was wrong came when he alighted from the train at Ximen, the stop after Taipei Main Station.
“There were a lot more people at the station than usual,” he told The Straits
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