TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — A narrow-gauge train carrying mostly Chinese tourists overturned Wednesday in a mountainous region of southern Taiwan, killing at least five people and injuring around 40, a fire official said.
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Taiwan's Defense Ministry said it sent two helicopters to the scene, near the resort town of Alishan, but provided no additional details.
The Alishan rail line, running east from the southern city of Chiayi, corkscrews through a series of steep mountains and has long been one of Taiwan's premier tourist attractions.
The fire official, from Chiayi, said the accident happened when a tree at the side of the line collapsed into the path of the oncoming train.
He spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the press.
Alishan has long been a magnet for Chinese tourists, who over the past year have been flocking to Taiwan at a rate of more than 4,000 a day.
China and Taiwan split amid civil war in 1949 and the mainland still claims the island as part of its territory.
But under the leadership of Taiwanese President Ma Ying-jeou, relations between the longtime rivals have improved substantially, leading to increased tourist arrivals on the island and an explosion of trade and investment on both sides of the 100-mile-wide Taiwan Strait.
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