TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A spokesperson for the victims of a fatal 2021 train crash allegedly found part of a skull on board the train during a visit by rail safety experts from Japan on Thursday (Aug. 31).

The Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) invited the group to Taiwan to offer advice on how to strengthen safety measures, UDN reported. After a first round of discussions on Wednesday (Aug. 30), they visited the Taiwan Railways Administration’s (TRA) Fugang Depot in Taoyuan City.

The site harbors the remains of the Taroko Express train involved in an accident in Hualien County that left 49 dead and more than 200 injured. A truck involved in a construction project near the railroad rolled down a slope to end up on the tracks just before the train emerged from a tunnel.

The Japanese experts laid flowers at the depot but also took a close look at the train carriages in the company of a representative of the victims’ families, named as Wang Wei-chun (王薇君), the Liberty Times reported. During the visit, she found part of a skull believed to be from one of the crash victims.

Wang raised the issue with TRA Director-General Tu Wei (杜微), who was accompanying the delegation from Japan. He promised to ask police and prosecutors to investigate whether more remains were present on the train.

Wang said she found the suspected skull near a plastic bag and a bloody T-shirt inside a train carriage exhibited at the depot. The two worst-damaged wagons from the train were moved to Fugang to serve as safety lesson materials for TRA staff.