TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — One Indonesian migrant worker was killed and five were severely injured on Monday (Feb. 13) when an SUV they were being transported in suddenly flipped over.
At 8:25 p.m. on Monday evening, the Tainan City Fire Department received a report that an SUV driving northbound on the Baihe Section of National Highway No.3 crashed and overturned, reported Liberty Times. When firefighters arrived on the scene, they found that eight people had been inside the SUV, including a woman who had been thrown out of the vehicle and lay in the ditch between the guardrail and soundproof wall.
(CNA photo)
She did not have any vital signs and firefighters began applying CPR immediately. She was rushed by ambulance to St. Martin De Porres Hospital Da-Ya Branch for emergency medical treatment.
However, the hospital announced at 10 p.m. that the woman had died before she had arrived at the facility. The woman was reportedly a 58-year-old migrant worker from Indonesia, according to BCC.
(National Highway Police Bureau photo)
In addition, five other Indonesian migrant workers inside the vehicle suffered serious contusions to their limbs and were also sent to the hospital for emergency treatment.
According to a preliminary investigation, the SUV was driven by a Taiwanese citizen, who was transporting the seven migrant workers who had just finished their shift and were headed back to their residences. After passing the 306-kilometer mark of the Baihe Section, the SUV suddenly struck a guardrail and flipped over.
(National Highway Police Bureau photo)
Only the driver and one migrant worker were not injured. After submitting to a breathalyzer test, the driver's blood alcohol level was found to be zero.
Police suspect that the driver turned too sharply when attempting to avoid another vehicle by swerving from the center lane to the outer lane, causing the vehicle to collide with the guardrail. However, the exact cause of the accident is currently under investigation.
