'Excessive speed' was main cause of Taiwan train derailment which killed 18

The derailment of a train in Taiwan which killed 18 people was due to "excessive speeds", investigators have said.

A task force in Taipai found the train entered a curve in the track at 87mph, almost twice the speed limit for the section, before the disaster on Sunday, the official Central News Agency reported.

Eighteen people were killed and 187 were injured.

CNA said the train's driver has been placed under investigation on suspicion of negligence, including allegedly disabling the automatic train protection system that would have caused it to brake.

Possible mechanical problems with the train were also being examined.

The six-year-old, Japanese-built Puyuma trains were made to travel at 93mph to ease transportation on rugged parts of the mountainous island's east coast.

They are designed to tilt when going around curves, making journeys quicker and easing pressure on the road system crossing Taiwan's central mountain range.

The train had been carrying more than 360 passengers when it crashed.

Sunday's accident was Taiwan's deadliest railway disaster since a 1991 train wreck killed 30 people.