A deputy stationmaster on Taipei City's MRT Zhonghe line fell to his death while performing flood-prevention checks at Dingxi Station in New Taipei City. The 35-year-old deputy stationmaster, named Kuo Cheng-chieh, fell to the bottom of an escalator shaft at 2:43 a.m. after a 300 cm x 20 cm flood-backing board he was carrying became stuck in the mechanism.
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Kuo was working to test the flood-prevention facilities at the station — a standard operating procedure at MRT stations during typhoon season. As Kuo was working alone in the station at the time, security guards didn't realize he was missing and only began to search for him about one hour after he fell. They found Kuo at the bottom of an escalator shaft at around 5:00 a.m.
Rescuers removed Kuo from the escalator shaft and rushed him to the Yongho branch of the Cardinal Tien Hospital, but staff were unable to save him. Peter Hu, director of the hospital's intensive-care division, said that Kuo already had no heartbeat when he arrived at the hospital — a result of massive bleeding. Dingsi Station was temporarily closed after the incident, which was the first of its kind since the Taipei Metro's first line became operational in 1996.
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The Labour Affairs Bureau of the Taipei City government said it will help to improve on-the-job safety training for TRTC workers to prevent similar accidents in the future. Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation vice general manager Shen Zhi-chang said the accidental death of the deputy stationmaster was a great pity, adding that the TRTC will make consolation payment to Kuo's family members in accordance with relevant regulations.
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