Man struck by 4 cars in a row while crossing road in Taiwan

While trying to cross a road to meet his girlfriend, a man in Taiwan was killed after he was hit by four cars in succession.

This unfortunate tragedy happened on Monday (May 2) at 3am in Taipei, reported English newspaper Taiwan News.

The man, surnamed Chuang, was crossing the road under the pouring rain but the traffic light had turned red before he could make it across, according to the Taiwanese news outlet.

The 41-year-old then tried to dash across the road but he was struck by a taxi driven by a man surnamed Ting, who immediately pulled over to the side of the street to help the pedestrian.

Speaking to Taiwanese police after the accident, 57-year-old Ting said that he was able to see that the traffic light had turned green, but he was unable to spot Chuang in time due to the rain.

A second car, a white-coloured vehicle, then ran over Chuang while he was still lying on the road but the driver didn't stop, said the Taiwanese police. 

A third vehicle, driven by a man surnamed Tsai also ran over Chuang but he pulled over to help. 

Ting then tried to warn an oncoming truck of Chuang's presence on the road, but this taxi driver had to jump out of the way to avoid being knocked over himself, Taiwan News reported.

By the time paramedics arrived at the scene, they found that Chuang had suffered serious head and leg injuries. They performed cardiopulmonary resuscitation on him.

Chuang was then conveyed to the National Taiwan University Hospital, where he died at 4.39am, according to Taiwanese news outlet NowNews.

The deceased was on his way to meet his girlfriend, and was wearing dark-coloured clothing at that time, Chinese Television System reported. 

Taiwanese police said that the rain and low lighting had led to poor visibility on the road, which meant that the vehicles were unable to avoid Chuang in time.

All four drivers were arrested and passed the breathalyser tests, said the police. 

The drivers are being investigated for negligent homicide, the police added.

chingshijie@asiaone.com