Heavy rains cause rail, road closures in Hualien

Taipei, Sept. 8 (CNA) Traffic on a section of the Suhua Highway and Taiwan Railways' Eastern Trunk Line in Hualien County, eastern Taiwan, was suspended Sunday following mudslides caused by a heavy afternoon rainstorm.

Due to reported mudslides, passenger rail traffic on the Eastern Trunk Line was suspended as a precaution in both directions between Chongde and Heren stations at 1:54 p.m., Taiwan Railways Corp. said in a statement.

Meanwhile, the Highway Bureau's Eastern Region Branch Office said that "heavy and sustained rain" beginning around 1 p.m. had caused a mudslide at the 164.5-kilometer marker of the Suhua Highway (Provincial Highway No. 9).

As of 2 p.m., traffic along the damaged road section between Heren and Chongde was suspended in both directions. Maintenance crews were in the process of assessing when the road could reopen to traffic, the office said.

The Eastern Trunk Line is a railway line stretching across much of eastern Taiwan from Taoyuan's Bade District down to Taitung. The Suhua Highway is a 118-km section of Provincial Highway No. 9 running between Suao Township in Yilan and Hualien City.