5-car pileup in Su Huagai killed 1 and injured 4. Suspected gravel truck chase caused accident

The 127.4-kilometer Provincial Highway 9 runs north from Su Hua Gai Nan'ao to the Heping section. A five-vehicle collision occurred at around 10 a.m. this morning, resulting in 1 death and 4 injuries. The police determined that the gravel truck driven by a 58-year-old man named Luo was suspected of not paying attention to the situation in front of the vehicle and chased the vehicle in front, causing a series of collisions.

The accident took place near the north entrance of the Guanyin Gufeng Tunnel in the section from Suhuagai Nan'ao to Heping. At the moment of the incident, the tour bus going north was driving at the front, followed by a Volkswagen SUV, an MG SUV, a taxi and a gravel truck. There were 18 people in the tour bus, 2 people each in the Volkswagen, MG and taxi, and there was only one driver of the gravel truck.

At the moment of the incident, the gravel truck was suspected of hitting the car in front, causing a chain collision. A total of four people in the taxi and Volkswagen were injured and sent to the hospital. The MG driver, a 72-year-old man surnamed Qu, escaped on his own. The 70-year-old brother in the co-pilot was trapped. He showed no signs of life after being rescued. After first aid, he was pronounced dead. The 18 people on the tour bus were only shocked and uninjured.

The police conducted drug and alcohol tests on the drivers of the five vehicles. The test results were all normal. There were no obvious signs of braking at the scene of the accident. It is not ruled out that the driver of the gravel truck did not pay attention to the situation in front of the vehicle and chased the vehicle in front of the vehicle and caused an accident. However, the detailed cause of the accident has yet to be clarified by investigation.

It is understood that the two people in the MG SUV were brothers surnamed Qu who live in New Taipei City. The two brothers took a car together to Hualien for fun. On the return trip, the older brother drove and the younger brother sat in the passenger seat. Unexpectedly, the younger brother was killed on the way home. As for the passengers of the tour bus, they were members of the Hualien Silver Hair Croquet Team. A group of people traveling north were involved in a car accident in Suhuagai. The tour bus was some distance away from the impact point of the gravel truck. The driver and passengers in the tour bus luckily escaped death.