TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A teacher driving from Pingtung County to a Kaohsiung City high school was killed by a piece of metal that slammed into her car on Thursday morning (March 17).

CNA reported that the 62-old teacher surnamed Lee (李), who was driving near the Wandan Interchange on Provincial Highway 88 at around 6:50 a.m., died instantly after the piece of metal measuring roughly 30 centimeters by 15-20 cm with a 2-3 cm thickness struck her from an opposite lane. In another report, CNA cited the police as saying the piece of metal weighed 4.9 kilograms.

According to the police, judging from available dashcam and surveillance footage, the piece of metal either fell from a vehicle or shot up from the road after a car ran over it. After consulting with a car repair company, the police concluded that the piece of metal is too large and heavy to come from a passenger vehicle.

The police are investigating large trucks that passed through the area and looking for eyewitnesses and motorists with dashcam footage of the accident to help determine where the piece of metal came from.

Meanwhile, the faculty and students at the high school where Lee teaches were shocked and deeply saddened to hear from the police about Lee’s death, per CNA. Lee was the school’s only health and nursing teacher and had been teaching there for 17 years, the school’s principal, surnamed Wang (王), was cited as saying.

Wang told CNA that Lee was dedicated to her work and maintained a good relationship with her students; several students sought help from the school’s counselors immediately after hearing about Lee’s death. The school has issued a letter to students and parents to help them cope with the unexpected incident and is ready to offer further help should students need it.

Lee was killed on her way to work on Thursday. (CNA photo)