A Taiwan Television (TTV) news cameraman drowned yesterday after being caught off guard by flooding in the Keelung River.
Alex Ping (平宗正), 31, was pronounced dead at Rueifang Hospital in Taipei County after doctors struggled to save his life.
PHOTO: TTV
"Ping was pronounced dead at 1:20pm. When he was rushed to the hospital around noon, he did not show any vital signs," a spokesperson at the hospital told the Taipei Times yesterday afternoon.
The accident took place while Ping, along with a group of reporters, were waiting for Premier Yu Shyi-kun to visit a flood-diversion tunnel in Rueifang. The visit was scheduled for 10:40am. The site, called the Yuanshanzih Flood Diversion Works of the Keelung River, is where water from the Keelung River is diverted through Rueifang and towards the northeast coast to mitigate flooding.
Although Yu's visit was canceled, Ping and three other reporters were caught in the diverted floodwaters while waiting at the site. The other three reporters were rescued in time, but Ping drowned.
"All of us [reporters at the scene] were trying to meet our noon deadlines by covering Yu's visit to the tunnel, and we were in a hurry to leave the mountain ... when the water rushed down upon us in full force. I am 1.8 meters tall, and the water was up to my chest. Ping and female reporter were the last to be rescued. According to the rescue team, Ping actually pushed the reporter towards the rescue boat so that she could be saved first. When the team came back to get Ping, he was not showing any vital signs," said China Television System (CTS) reporter Li Wen-yao (李文耀), who was at the scene.
Li said that when he saw Ping for the last time he was still carrying his camera equipment.
"When I turned around to have a look at the people behind me, I saw Ping, still carrying his camera equipment. Should Ping have decided to drop his heavy equipment, he might still be alive," Li said.
The Water Resources Agency (WRA) said that Ping and the other reporters had been warned by a construction worker at the site not to try to cross the water during flood diversion.
"The agency issued a notice regarding the flood diversion to Rueifang Township at 9:30am. A construction worker advised the four reporters not to attempt to cross the water; however, as the reporters were eager to meet their deadlines, they did it anyway," WRA Director-General Chen Shen-hsien (陳伸賢) said.
Ping graduated from Nanhua University's Department of Communication, and worked as a print reporter for GTV News before becoming a Keelung-based cameraman for TTV in August last year.
"The premier offers his condolences to Ping's family and is moved by the professional dedication of news reporters. The premier also asked Minister of the Interior Su Jia-chyuan (蘇嘉全) and Government Information Office Director-General Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) to provide assistance to Ping's family by helping with the necessary arrangements to be made following Ping's passing," Cabinet Spokesman Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) said.
In response to the tragedy, the Association of Taiwan Journalists issued a statement urging journalists to watch out for their personal safety when covering disasters.
"We would like to remind media groups to offer on-the-job safety training for their reporters ... as well as to purchase accident insurance for their reporters," the association said.
Upon hearing of Ping's accident, CTS decided to increase its accident insurance policies for its reporters.
"First, we would like to offer our condolences. In addition to the group insurance and accident coverage we usually offer to our reporters, for the 20 news reporters who are working today, we have increased their accident insurance policies," CTS vice president Rick Chu (朱立熙) said yesterday.
SILENCING CRITICS: In addition to blocking Taiwan, China aimed to prevent rights activists from speaking out against authoritarian states, a Cabinet department said The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday condemned transnational repression by Beijing after RightsCon, a major digital human rights conference scheduled to be held in Zambia this week, was abruptly canceled due to Chinese pressure over Taiwanese participation. This year’s RightsCon, the world’s largest conference discussing issues “at the intersection of human rights and technology,” was scheduled to take place from tomorrow to Friday in Lusaka, and expected to draw 2,600 in-person attendees from 150 countries, along with 1,100 online participants. However, organizers were forced to cancel the event due to behind-the-scenes pressure from China, the ministry said, expressing its “strongest condemnation”
Taiwan’s economy grew far faster than expected in the first quarter, as booming demand for artificial intelligence (AI) applications drove a surge in exports, spilling over into investment and consumption, the Directorate-General of Budget, Accounting and Statistics (DGBAS) said yesterday. GDP growth was 13.69 percent year-on-year during the January-to-March period, beating the DGBAS’ February forecast by 2.23 percentage points and marking the most robust growth in nearly four decades, DGBAS senior official Chiang Hsin-yi (江心怡) told a news conference in Taipei. The result was powered by exports, which remain the backbone of Taiwan’s economy, Chiang said. Outbound shipments jumped 51.12 percent year-on-year to
DELAYED BUT DETERMINED: The president’s visit highlights Taiwan’s right to international engagement amid regional pressure from China President Willaim Lai (賴清德) yesterday arrived in Eswatini, more than a week after his planned visit to Taiwan’s sole African ally was suspended because of revoked overflight permits. “The visit, originally scheduled for April 22, was postponed due to unforeseen external factors,” Lai wrote on social media. “After several days of careful arrangements by our diplomatic and national security teams, we successfully arrived today.” Lai said he looked forward to further deepening Taiwan-Eswatini relations through closer cooperation in the economy, agriculture, culture and education, as well as advancing the nation’s international partnerships. The president was initially scheduled to arrive in time to celebrate
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC) yesterday said the US faced a choice between an “impossible” military operation or a “bad deal” with Tehran, after US President Donald Trump disparaged Iran’s latest peace proposal. Negotiations between the two countries have been deadlocked since a ceasefire came into effect on April 8, with only one round of direct peace talks held so far. Iran’s Tasnim and Fars news agencies reported that Tehran had submitted a 14-point proposal to mediator Pakistan, but Trump was quick to cast doubt on it. “I will soon be reviewing the plan that Iran has just sent to us, but
RSS