An eight-year-old girl died after a large bottle rocket firework hit her in the throat, Taitung County police said yesterday.
They said the girl and her siblings were watching some teenaged neighbors set off “Apply Rockets” on Monday night on a road near their home. One of the rockets went sideways instead of up into the air, hitting the girl, who was standing a short distance away.
The girl’s aunt and neighbors tried to staunch the heavy bleeding before the child was taken to a surgical clinic, police said.
She was later transferred to Taitung Hospital, where she was pronounced dead at 10pm, they said.
Her parents were in Hualien County at the time of the incident and rushed back, but did not make it before she died — and broke down at the hospital when they saw her body, police said.
The teenager who allegedly set off the rocket told police he and his friends had placed the rockets in empty beer bottles to set them off, and one of the rockets hit the girl, who was 5m or 6m away.
He denied having deliberately aimed the firework at the girl, saying he could not remember whether the beer bottle fell down as the rocket went off, police said.
Police said Apply Rockets are 30cm long with a hard plastic casing at the top and carry a warning label saying that the rocket must not be aimed at people or animals and that people should stand at least 10m away from where the fireworks are being set off.
They said the rockets are top-heavy and can easily topple over if launched from a bottle.
The store that allegedly sold the fireworks to the teenagers denied selling the rockets to people less than 18 years old, police said.
Police said they are investigating whether the fireworks are legal and whether the manufacturer or the store that sold the fireworks should bear some responsibility for the incident.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwan is projected to lose a working-age population of about 6.67 million people in two waves of retirement in the coming years, as the nation confronts accelerating demographic decline and a shortage of younger workers to take their place, the Ministry of the Interior said. Taiwan experienced its largest baby boom between 1958 and 1966, when the population grew by 3.78 million, followed by a second surge of 2.89 million between 1976 and 1982, ministry data showed. In 2023, the first of those baby boom generations — those born in the late 1950s and early 1960s — began to enter retirement, triggering
One of two tropical depressions that formed off Taiwan yesterday morning could turn into a moderate typhoon by the weekend, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Tropical Depression No. 21 formed at 8am about 1,850km off the southeast coast, CWA forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The weather system is expected to move northwest as it builds momentum, possibly intensifying this weekend into a typhoon, which would be called Mitag, Lee said. The radius of the storm is expected to reach almost 200km, she said. It is forecast to approach the southeast of Taiwan on Monday next week and pass through the Bashi Channel
NO CHANGE: The TRA makes clear that the US does not consider the status of Taiwan to have been determined by WWII-era documents, a former AIT deputy director said The American Institute in Taiwan’s (AIT) comments that World War-II era documents do not determine Taiwan’s political status accurately conveyed the US’ stance, the US Department of State said. An AIT spokesperson on Saturday said that a Chinese official mischaracterized World War II-era documents as stating that Taiwan was ceded to the China. The remarks from the US’ de facto embassy in Taiwan drew criticism from the Ma Ying-jeou Foundation, whose director said the comments put Taiwan in danger. The Chinese-language United Daily News yesterday reported that a US State Department spokesperson confirmed the AIT’s position. They added that the US would continue to
The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency as well as long-term residency in Taiwan has decreased, the Mainland Affairs Council said yesterday, adding that the reduction of Chinese spouses staying or living in Taiwan is only one facet reflecting the general decrease in the number of people willing to get married in Taiwan. The number of Chinese spouses applying for dependent residency last year was 7,123, down by 2,931, or 29.15 percent, from the previous year. The same census showed that the number of Chinese spouses applying for long-term residency and receiving approval last year stood at 2,973, down 1,520,
RSS