Chiayi prosecutors yesterday launched a criminal investigation into the Pachang Creek incident to decide whether officials were guilty of negligence or manslaughter.
If found guilty of negligence, public officials could face anywhere between three and 10 years imprisonment, according to the Criminal Code.
Meanwhile, a demerit was handed down to 13 ministers including Director of the National Fire Administration Chen Horng-i (陳弘毅), Director-General of National Police Administration Ting Yuan-chin (丁原進) and the Ministry of National Defense's war command deputy, Major General Chung Shen-ning (鍾申寧).
"The focus of our investigation will be why was there a delay? Was there enough time to carry out a rescue during the delay? Also, to determine if the delay constitutes a criminal offense, if it is found officials failed to launch a rescue attempt?" said Tseng Ming-fung (
The State Public Prosecutor General Lu Jen-fa (
Lu said that governmental officials could be found guilty of an offense under a law related to the "public official's negligence of duties, thereby causing catastrophes."
But Lu stressed he would not interfere in the investigation.
Tseng said another possible charge was manslaughter by neglect of official duties, which carries imprisonment of less than five years.
Led by Tseng, three Chiayi prosecutors yesterday visited Chiayi's air force base, the base of the airborne police in Taichung and the Chiayi Fire Department. They also spoke with eyewitnesses.
Tseng said inconsistencies between the reports of the different units needed to be checked.
An airborne police rescue helicopter was dispatched from Taichung, but investigators discovered it turned back as the pilot was told the workers had already been swept away by the torrent.
The air force says that according to regulations it was not their responsibility to carry out rescue efforts below 2,500m above sea level.
Asked if this regulation exempted the air force from criminal charges for not dispatching a helicopter, Tseng said the matter still needed to be examined.
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
FALSE DOCUMENTS? Actor William Liao said he was ‘voluntarily cooperating’ with police after a suspect was accused of helping to produce false medical certificates Police yesterday questioned at least six entertainers amid allegations of evasion of compulsory military service, with Lee Chuan (李銓), a member of boy band Choc7 (超克7), and actor Daniel Chen (陳大天) among those summoned. The New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office in January launched an investigation into a group that was allegedly helping men dodge compulsory military service using falsified medical documents. Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) has been accused of being one of the group’s clients. As the investigation expanded, investigators at New Taipei City’s Yonghe Precinct said that other entertainers commissioned the group to obtain false documents. The main suspect, a man surnamed
The government is considering polices to increase rental subsidies for people living in social housing who get married and have children, Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) said yesterday. During an interview with the Plain Law Movement (法律白話文) podcast, Cho said that housing prices cannot be brought down overnight without affecting banks and mortgages. Therefore, the government is focusing on providing more aid for young people by taking 3 to 5 percent of urban renewal projects and zone expropriations and using that land for social housing, he said. Single people living in social housing who get married and become parents could obtain 50 percent more
DEMOGRAPHICS: Robotics is the most promising answer to looming labor woes, the long-term care system and national contingency response, an official said Taiwan is to launch a five-year plan to boost the robotics industry in a bid to address labor shortages stemming from a declining and aging population, the Executive Yuan said yesterday. The government approved the initiative, dubbed the Smart Robotics Industry Promotion Plan, via executive order, senior officials told a post-Cabinet meeting news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s population decline would strain the economy and the nation’s ability to care for vulnerable and elderly people, said Peter Hong (洪樂文), who heads the National Science and Technology Council’s (NSTC) Department of Engineering and Technologies. Projections show that the proportion of Taiwanese 65 or older would
RSS