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2 LRT trains crash, 4 staff hurt – ‘human error’ possible cause: govt

2024-05-09 03:19
BY Tony Wong
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Two Light Rail Transit (LRT) trains crashed during a test of the system’s Seac Pai Van section in the wee hours of yesterday, slightly injuring four staff, the Public Works Bureau (DSOP) announced in a statement.

Due to the accident, train operation tests have been suspended on the Seac Pai Van section as well as on the Cotai-Hengqin section, yesterday’s statement said.

The statement also said that the government does not rule out the possibility that the crash was caused by “human error”.

The government started train operation tests on the LRT Seac Pai Van section and the Cotai-Hengqin section earlier this year, after the two lines’ construction and the setting-up of their respective rail operating systems were “basically” completed.

The 1.6-kilometre-long Seac Pai Van section will connect the Macao Union Hospital in Cotai and Coloane’s sprawling Seac Pai Van public housing estate.

Macao Union Hospital is the shortened official name of the Islands Healthcare Complex – Macao Medical Centre of Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), Macau’s largest hospital which started its trial operation in December last year.

The large-scale healthcare complex is operated by PUMCH in collaboration with the Macau government. It is also informally known as Cotai hospital due to it being located in south Cotai.

“Islands” is the official term referring to Taipa, Coloane and Cotai.

The LRT Seac Pai Van section only has two stations – one outside the Macao Union Hospital and the other one outside the Seac Pai Van public housing estate.

The two stations are officially known as Union Hospital Station and Seac Pai Van Station.

When the LRT Seac Pai Van section project was launched in 2021, the station to be constructed outside the then still under-construction healthcare complex was tentatively known as Islands Hospital Station.

The 2.2-kilometre-long LRT section between Cotai and the Hengqin checkpoint includes a 900-metre-long underwater tunnel.

The Macau government is aiming to open both the Seac Pai Van section and the Cotai-Hengqin section by the end of this year.

According to statements by the Fire Services Bureau (CB) and the Public Security Police (PSP) yesterday morning, the crash involving two LRT trains occurred at Union Hospital Station at around 1:30 a.m. yesterday when a train operation test was carried out.

According to the CB statement, the four injured, all local residents, involved a 31-year-old woman and three men aged 26, 30 and 49. All of them sustained slight injuries and were taken to the public Conde de São Januário Hospital Centre for outpatient treatment.

The Public Works Bureau, the public entity tasked with organising and overseeing LRT projects, announced further details of the crash in a statement yesterday afternoon.

The DSOP statement said that two LRT trains crashed at Union Hospital Station in the wee hours of yesterday when a train operation test was carried out on the Seac Pai Van section.

According to the DSOP statement, all the four injured are LRT staff members tasked with carrying out train operation tests. The statement said that three of them were discharged from hospital after receiving treatment, while the remaining one was discharged later yesterday morning.

The statement said that according to the preliminary findings of a basic investigation, the bureau does not rule out possibility that the accident was caused by “human error”.

The statement said that the bureau has launched an investigation into the exact cause of the crash, pledging that it will announce the findings after completing the investigation.

The statement said that due to the accident, the bureau has suspended train operation tests on the Seac Pai Van section as well as on the Cotai-Hengqin section. 


Public Works Bureau (DSOP) engineers and technicians investigate at the LRT Union Hospital Station yesterday morning after two trains crashed there during an operation test in the wee hours. – Photo: DSOP


This DSOP handout photo taken and released in late March shows the LRT Union Hospital Station.

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