Following the disappearance and presumed death of two Taiwanese passengers aboard a Taipei-based cruise liner last year, another Taiwanese man was killed Tuesday aboard a Star Cruise liner plying the Okinawa-Taipei route, after falling from the 9th floor to a deck on the sixth floor.
According to a witness who spoke to reporters yesterday, the man identified as Liu Pao-fong (劉寶鋒) was sitting on the railing on the ninth floor of the cruise liner, taking pictures with his daughter and a friend, when he accidentally fell over the railing.
Crew members later found his body on top of a lifeboat on the sixth floor deck. The cruise liner returned to Taiwan yesterday.
The incident is the third involving the deaths of passengers on Star Cruse liners over the past four months. Families of the victims are now calling for a ban on all promotional activities by the Malaysian-owned vacation cruise company.
Taipei City Councilor Lo Tsong-sheng (羅宗勝) yesterday called on the city government to immediately ban the cruise company's commercial activities in Taiwan until the company improves its safety measures.
In a press release, Lo accused the cruise liner of having blind spots in its security operations, and expressed hopes that the government can help resolve the problem immediately.
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