TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — An accident involving three cars on National Freeway 3 in Miaoli County on Saturday morning (April 15) injured eight and caused a traffic jam.
The Miaoli County Fire Bureau received a report about the incident that occurred on National Freeway 3 south between the Dashan and Houlong interchanges at around 5 a.m., CNA reported. The bureau was told several injured people were trapped in vehicles.
When firefighters arrived at the scene, they found a truck that had crashed into the central barrier and two cars that had hit the truck. The impact of the collisions caused the vehicles to deform, trapping people in all three of them.
After using machinery to break down the vehicles, rescuers were able to free the driver of the truck and the first vehicle as well as four adults and two children in the second car. They were sent to the Da Chien General Hospital and Miaoli Hospital for treatment.
All eight injured were conscious, though one of them reportedly suffered heavy injuries.
The truck driver was cited as saying that he had lost control of the truck and hit the central barrier while trying to avoid an object on the highway. The vehicle had flipped and became stuck on the barrier, trapping him inside.
He said that around three or four minutes later, the two other cars crashed into the truck.
Authorities are investigating the cause of the accident.
It took over an hour to clear the scene of the accident, which caused a traffic jam.
