Victims of the collapsed Fenchiu Tunnel (豐丘明隧道) are likely to receive national compensation as the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) yesterday said it would reopen the application process.
Nantou County’s Fengchiu Tunnel was crushed by a mudslide during Typhoon Sinlaku in 2008, burying four cars. The victims’ families filed for state compensation, but lost in court.
MOTC minister Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said yesterday the Control Yuan, acting on new evidence, censured the ministry, the Water Resources Agency and an official at the Nantou County Government for failing to do a good job in building the drainage system.
“This is an important factor in granting national compensation,” Mao said while attending the Chinese National Party’s (KMT) Central Standing Committee. Mao was invited to report on progress in repair work at the Formosa Freeway (National Freeway No. 3), which was damaged by a deadly landslide on April 25, killing four people.
National Freeway Bureau Director-General Tseng Dar-jen (曾大仁), who delivered a report on the incident during yesterday’s meeting, said they planned to make public a preliminary report tomorrow and the official report as soon as possible.
The preliminary probe found that the main cause of the landslide was the movement of a dip slope — geological formations often created by the erosion of tilted strata — he said. The ground anchors built to hold back the slopes could not sustain the weight and broke, causing the landslide, he said.
Tseng said the bureau would also conduct a thorough examination of the dip slopes on highways and railways and plans to complete the survey project by the middle of this month.
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