Driver dead, 2 injured as van loses control, crashes in Taipei

Taipei, Feb. 25 (CNA) A driver who lost control of his van, injuring two pedestrians and striking a utility pole in Taipei's Wenshan District on Wednesday morning, has died, authorities said.

The Taipei City Fire Department said it dispatched paramedics after receiving a call at 5:50 a.m. about a vehicle that had struck pedestrians on Jingxing Road in Taipei's Jingmei neighborhood.

Upon investigating, police found that the 52-year-old driver of a van, surnamed Wu (吳), was traveling southward on Jingxing Road when he lost control of his vehicle for reasons that have yet to be determined.

Wu's van swerved across the median and then jumped the sidewalk on the other side of the road, striking a married couple and then crashing into a utility pole, police said.

Video of the accident showed Wu's van traveling at a relatively slow speed along the sidewalk before striking the utility pole with its front right bumper, pinning it against a building on the driver's side. It is unclear if Wu was having a medical emergency at the time.

Paramedics who arrived at the scene said the male pedestrian, surnamed Song (宋), suffered fractured bones in his face, while his wife, surnamed Gong (龔) suffered bruises. Both were fully conscious and were taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for non-life-threatening injuries.

Wu, who was briefly stuck inside the vehicle, did not have vital signs when rescue personnel managed to extract him.

Wu was sent to Wanfang Hospital for emergency treatment, where he was pronounced dead at 7:27 a.m., authorities said.

Evidence from the scene of the accident, as well as surveillance video footage, will be sent to the Taipei Traffic Police Corps to confirm the accident's cause and determine legal responsibility, police said.