New Taipei:Two workers tragically fell to their deaths on Thursday while performing maintenance work on a mountainside along a provincial highway in New Taipei's Jinshan District. The incident occurred when the work basket they were in, attached to a crane's boom, was involved in an accident, according to police reports.

According to Focus Taiwan, the victims were identified as a 49-year-old man and his 30-year-old nephew. One of the workers was found with no vital signs at the scene, while the other was unconscious when rescuers arrived. Both men were later pronounced dead at separate hospitals.

The police were alerted to the accident at 149 p.m. A preliminary investigation revealed that the crane's boom had struck the mountainside, leading to the fatal fall. The crane operator, aged 67, and the person in charge of the maintenance project have been taken to the police station for questioning.

The maintenance project was contracted by the Highway Bureau's Northern Region Branch Office under the Ministry of Transportation and Communications. Authorities have stated that the cause of the accident and the party responsible are still under investigation.