Taichung’s Tunghai University resumed water supply yesterday after the Taichung police arrested a man who allegedly attempted to poison the school’s water system with rat poison.
Tseng Hua-yuan (曾華源), secretary-general of the school, said it had reinstated water supply after the school’s three water tests found no trace of poison.
The school had been forced to suspend the supply since Friday morning after a note was found under the door of the school’s president’s office on Thursday.
In the note, the blackmailer demanded NT$5 million (US$150,800) and 2.5kg of gold and threatened to poison the school’s water supply if it refused to comply with his demand, the school said.
The Taichung City Police Bureau yesterday announced that the police had solved the case.
Bureau Director-General Yeh Kun-fu (葉坤福) said the 39-year-old suspect, surnamed Wang, had confessed that he blackmailed the school because he owed a lot of money for illegal online gambling.
“He needed to pay NT$300,000 by May 5 and he said he had no other way out,” Yeh said. “He lives close to the university and is very familiar with the university’s buildings. He said he did not hold any grudge against Tunghai.”
Yeh said the suspect had thrown rat poison into the university’s water tank on Friday, but fortunately the poison did not fall into the water. The poison was a kind exclusively distributed by the Taichung County Public Health Bureau, Yeh said.
Several students accused the school of delaying informing students of the poison threat, adding that it had also failed to secure the public water tank.
In the school’s defense, Tseng said it was afraid that the blackmailer might take other steps against the school if it publicized the threat earlier.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said that about 40 schools had received notes threatening to harm students and faculty. The ministry said in the majority of cases, the threat later turned out to be a false alarm.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong effective from 5:30pm, while local governments canceled school and work for tomorrow. A land warning is expected to be issued tomorrow morning before it is expected to make landfall on Wednesday, the agency said. Taoyuan, and well as Yilan, Hualien and Penghu counties canceled work and school for tomorrow, as well as mountainous district of Taipei and New Taipei City. For updated information on closures, please visit the Directorate-General of Personnel Administration Web site. As of 5pm today, Fung-wong was about 490km south-southwest of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan's southernmost point.
Tropical Storm Fung-Wong would likely strengthen into a typhoon later today as it continues moving westward across the Pacific before heading in Taiwan’s direction next week, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. As of 8am, Fung-Wong was about 2,190km east-southeast of Cape Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving westward at 25kph and possibly accelerating to 31kph, CWA data showed. The tropical storm is currently over waters east of the Philippines and still far from Taiwan, CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said, adding that it could likely strengthen into a typhoon later in the day. It is forecast to reach the South China Sea
Almost a quarter of volunteer soldiers who signed up from 2021 to last year have sought early discharge, the Legislative Yuan’s Budget Center said in a report. The report said that 12,884 of 52,674 people who volunteered in the period had sought an early exit from the military, returning NT$895.96 million (US$28.86 million) to the government. In 2021, there was a 105.34 percent rise in the volunteer recruitment rate, but the number has steadily declined since then, missing recruitment targets, the Chinese-language United Daily News said, citing the report. In 2021, only 521 volunteers dropped out of the military, the report said, citing
Nearly 5 million people have signed up to receive the government’s NT$10,000 (US$322) universal cash handout since registration opened on Wednesday last week, with deposits expected to begin tomorrow, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. After a staggered sign-up last week — based on the final digit of the applicant’s national ID or Alien Resident Certificate number — online registration is open to all eligible Taiwanese nationals, foreign permanent residents and spouses of Taiwanese nationals. Banks are expected to start issuing deposits from 6pm today, the ministry said. Those who completed registration by yesterday are expected to receive their NT$10,000 tomorrow, National Treasury
RSS