4 dead, 4 injured as EV crashes, bursts into flames in Taoyuan

Taoyuan, Jan. 26 (CNA) One man and three children died, and four others were injured after an overloaded electric vehicle slammed into a traffic barrier and burst into flames on National Freeway No. 1 in Taoyuan late Saturday.

The Taoyuan Fire Department said it received a call Saturday evening about a vehicle carrying two adults and six children that had crashed and caught fire near the Yangmei Service Area.

Upon arriving at the scene, firefighters extinguished the fire at around 8 p.m., and, after finding the vehicle's driver dead, sent the seven passengers to area hospitals for emergency treatment, the department said.

The vehicle's 40-year-old male driver, surnamed Ni (倪) and his wife, surnamed Chan (展), were driving their three children and three of their relatives' children to visit family for the Lunar New Year, the department said.

Of the passengers, a 10-year-old boy surnamed Ni died after being sent to the hospital, while a 4-year-old girl and 2-year-old boy, surnamed Ni and Chan, respectively, died of their injuries on Sunday morning, the fire department added.

As of early Sunday, the wife remained in a coma, while an 8-year-old boy surnamed Ni was intubated and undergoing surgery, an 11-year-old girl surnamed Wu (吳) was being treated for second-degree burns, and a 4-year-old girl surnamed Chan was fully conscious.

The National Highway Police Bureau said the accident occurred at 7:27 p.m. Saturday after Ni's vehicle exited a section of the highway known as the Wugu-Yangmei elevated expressway.

After turning onto an exit ramp toward the Yangmei Service Area, Ni's vehicle crashed into a traffic barrier and caught fire, for reasons that are still being investigated, the bureau said.

According to a United Daily News report, the ramp where the accident occurred splits traffic in two directions, with the outer lane leading to the Yangmei rest stop and the inner lane connecting to a street at ground-level.

A dashcam video circulating online appears to show the vehicle slamming into a barrier dividing the two lanes.

The vehicle involved in the crash was reportedly a Hyundai Ioniq 5, a battery electric compact crossover SUV with a seating capacity of five, according to multiple news outlets.