Drug driving suspected in fatal accidents in Taichung, Taoyuan

Taipei, June 12 (CNA) Drug-impaired driving has been suspected in two separate fatal car accidents in Taichung and Taoyuan on Thursday evening, authorities said Friday.

The first case occurred on Zhonghua Road Section 1 in Taichung's Wuqi District, which claimed the lives of two people and injured one other, according to the Taichung City Police Bureau's Qingshui Precinct.

In a statement, the precinct said that a 29-year-old driver, surnamed Hsu (許), who drove a four-door sedan into a tree, was suspected to have consumed ketamine.

During the accident, Hsu was thrown out of the vehicle, while his two 18-year-old passengers, both surnamed Chen (陳), were stuck inside.

Hsu showed no sign of life when first responders arrived on scene, while one of the passengers showed no sign of life upon arrival at a hospital.

Although the other passenger sustained abrasions, police said he was conscious when rescued and is currently under observation at a hospital.

Based on surveillance footage, Hsu was suspected of racing with another car, police said, adding that the owner of the second car has been identified.

The precinct added that samples collected at the scene of the accident included unknown white powder, which preliminary analysis showed to be ketamine.

Additionally, a saliva sample from the surviving passenger also tested positive for ketamine.

In the other case, the Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office said a driver suspected of having used amphetamine hit two bystanders during a police chase on Thursday evening, killing both individuals.

The 30-year-old driver, surnamed Chang (張), later died at a hospital on Friday.

The office explained that Chang fled from a traffic stop on Chunri Road in the city's Taoyuan District.

Police officers then pursued Chang for approximately 6 kilometers before Chang's car veered off the road by the city's Min-Sheng General Hospital.

Chang's vehicle then hit two men, 60-year-old Hou (侯) and 65-year-old Yeh (葉), who were both waiting at a red light.

Both victims sustained extensive lacerations to their heads, open fractures to their limbs, and mutilation of their limbs, and showed no signs of life on scene. Efforts to resuscitate them failed.

According to Taoyuan prosecutors, a urine sample collected from Chang tested positive for amphetamine.