Taiwan's president pushed for a swift investigation Monday after an express train derailed on a coastal tourist route, killing 18 people as it sent sleeping passengers flying from their seats, reports AFP.
The crash on the popular east coast line injured another 187 people Sunday and left the Puyuma Express lying zig-zagged across the tracks in the island's worst rail accident for a quarter century.
Among those who died, the youngest was nine years old. Two students aged 12 and 13 from a junior high school in Taitung -- where the train was headed -- were also killed, according to the transport ministry.