Petrol, gas canisters found on Taiwan train

More than 600 passengers were evacuated from a high-speed train bound for Taipei on Friday after what appeared to be petrol and two small gas canisters were found in suitcases on board, police said. Two other cases also apparently containing petrol were found in lawmaker Lu Chia-chen's office in New Taipei city, his assistant told reporters, leading to the bomb squad and emergency services being called. Police said they were looking into whether the two incidents were linked. The Railway Police Bureau set up a special taskforce to investigate the incident after the suspected explosives were found. "We have started necessary investigative work such as screening passenger lists and surveillance camera footage for possible suspects. We don't have further leads at this moment," said a police official who asked not to be named. Railway police revised an earlier statement that some triggering devices were found in the suitcases on the train. Train operator Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. said it alerted police after the two unattended cases with a "strong odour" were spotted in a bathroom in train 616 bound for the capital. It evacuated the passengers when the train arrived at Taoyuan station near Taipei, and police removed the bags for investigation. Passengers were later put on another train to continue their journeys. Officers searched the train for evidence and the platform for Taipei-bound trains was temporarily closed during the removal of the suitcases, the company said. It said it had not received any threats prior to the incident and added that it was the first time an evacuation was carried out over unidentified objects found on one of its trains. "The high speed train I rode today stopped in Taoyuan for a long time and I thought it was a mechanical failure but later heard that there were gasoline bombs on the train," passenger and lawmaker Lu Shiow-yen wrote on her Facebook page. Last year, a man received a three-year suspended sentence for blackmailing the high speed rail company and making a false bomb threat the previous year saying he was dissatisfied over its services. In 2004, "rice bomber" Yang Ju-man was arrested for planting 17 bombs to raise awareness of the plight of the island's agricultural sector after Taiwan's entry into the World Trade Organization. Yang planted small explosives -- some made from gunpowder with a handful of rice thrown on top -- in parks, telephone booths, commuter trains and public restrooms in Taipei. Only two bombs went off and no one was injured.