A Taipei court’s ruling on a lawsuit over a 2011 mountaineering death has sparked controversy because the judge blamed inadequate efforts by firefighter rescue teams and awarded the victim’s family NT$2.67 million (US$86,685) in compensation.
It was a precedent-setting ruling, marking the first time official rescuers have been ordered to compensate a victim’s family.
The defendants, Nantou County Fire Department officials, said after Wednesday’s decision that they would appeal the ruling because it was wrong to fault rescuers, adding that the verdict was very detrimental to society.
Photo provided by Chang’s family
Nantou County Commissioner Lin Ming-chen (林明溱) yesterday vowed to appeal the ruling to protect the rights of firefighters who undertook the search-and-rescue mission.
The case concerned the death of Chang Po-wei (張博崴), a student at Chung Shan Medical University, who headed into the mountains alone on Feb. 27, 2011, to climb the 3,341m Baigu Mountain (白姑大山) in the Hsuehshan Range (雪山山脈).
Chang called his girlfriend on his cellphone the next day, saying he had gotten lost on the mountain trails, but did not ask her to report him missing.
Photo: Chang Hsiao-ti, Taipei Times
There was no further contact with Chang, and on March 1, the authorities initiated a search-and-rescue operation for him.
The operation lasted 51 days and involved more than 600 people, including local police and firefighter units, troops, Aboriginal villagers and volunteer rescuers from mountaineering clubs.
On April 20, Chang’s body was found in a mountain gully by Huang Kuo-shu (黃國書), a veteran mountaineering guide hired by Chang’s parents to conduct a search.
Chang’s parents believe their son might have lived if he had been found earlier, and blamed the rescue units from the public sector for failing to locate him. They filed a lawsuit seeking NT$6.65 million in compensation, blaming the Nantou County police and fire departments, the National Fire Agency and the Forestry Bureau office in the region, along with several other police units.
The ruling exonerated all the defendants except for the local firefighter units, who were ordered to pay compensation.
However, most commentators and mountain rescuers said the ruling was unjustified because it blamed the wrong party, and that the victim himself committed the most crucial mistake by venturing into the mountains alone, breaking a cardinal rule of mountaineering.
Nantou County Fire Department Director Lin Tsung-chi (林聰吉) said his firefighters felt maligned by the ruling, especially because everyone had made tremendous efforts, placing themselves at great risk in the unpredictable weather conditions and dangerous mountain terrain during the search.
One firefighter said he would not undertake rescue missions in the future, saying it is a thankless task that puts him at risk of being sued.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique