Drunk driver detained after fatal crash into garbage truck in Tainan

Tainan, Dec. 17 (CNA) A 48-year-old man was ordered detained Tuesday after allegedly driving drunk and rear-ending a garbage truck in Tainan's Anping District, killing a 23-year-old sanitation worker who was standing behind the truck at the time, prosecutors said.

Video of the accident, which occurred around 8 a.m. Tuesday, showed a passenger car driven by the man, surnamed Cheng (鄭), slamming into the sanitation worker and the back of the garbage truck that had stopped along Qingping Road to collect trash.

The female worker, surnamed Chen (陳), was pronounced dead at the scene.

Cheng was trapped in his vehicle but was conscious when firefighters extricated him and took him to National Cheng Kung University Hospital for treatment at around 8:30 a.m., according to police.

Police said Cheng's breath-alcohol concentration measured 0.95 milligrams per liter. He was referred to prosecutors on suspicion of endangering public safety and causing death by negligence.

Prosecutors later conducted a post-mortem examination and concluded that Chen died from multiple traumatic injuries, including severe lower-body fractures caused by the impact.

After questioning, the Tainan District Prosecutors Office filed a motion with the Tainan District Court to detain Cheng, which was approved Tuesday night.

According to the city's Environmental Protection Bureau, the garbage truck was operated by a private contractor rather than the bureau itself.