Flowers pile up at fatal car crash scene in New Taipei

New Taipei, May 20 (CNA) Piles of flowers, snacks and offerings lined the roadside near the site of a fatal car crash in New Taipei's Sanxia District on Monday, as people paid their respects to the deceased and prayed for the injured.

As of 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, the makeshift memorial stretched over six meters, with a steady stream of people gathering to mourn the three dead and express concern for the 13 injured, most of them aged 12 to 15.

Local police were seen directing traffic at the intersection to ensure the safety of students and other pedestrians.

The incident occurred around 4 p.m. on Monday when a car driven by a 78-year-old man plowed into a group of pedestrians at the intersection of Guocheng Street and Guoguang Street, near Bei Da Elementary School, the New Taipei Education Department said in a news release.

As of 6:30 p.m. the same day, three people had died, including two female junior high school students and a woman in her 40s, according to local police and fire officials.

Most of the injured were also junior high school students, while one was a 5-year-old preschool boy, they said.

A man who lives nearby said Tuesday that he had difficulty sleeping last night due to the incident.

"I can relate to that," he said in tears, thinking about the students involved.

Another mourner, a woman who had graduated from Sanxia Junior High School, said it was heart-wrenching to see her younger schoolmates suffering.

The injured were taken to three hospitals, with most sustaining minor injuries.

The driver, identified as Yu (余), remained unconscious and in critical condition following surgery on Monday.

Lin Heng-fu (林恆甫), chief of Far East Memorial Hospital's Trauma Surgery Division, said Yu had multiple ruptures in the intestines when he was rushed to the hospital on Monday.

Yu underwent multiple checks on Tuesday, but Lin said it was difficult to make any further prognosis and did not rule out a second operation later in the day.