Taipei luxury hotel the Regent Taipei has been fined NT$300,000 (US$9,563) by the Taipei City Government over an incident on Sunday in which a pedestrian was injured by tiles falling from its facade.
The Taipei Municipal Construction Management Office imposed the fine on the Regent Taipei and ordered its management to fix the problematic building facade along Linsen N Road within 15 days.
The victim, a 34-year-woman, was hit on the head by mosaic tiles that fell from the exterior wall on the 14th and 15th floor of the hotel, the Taipei Fire Department said.
The woman was rushed to a nearby hospital, where she was found to have a coin-sized injury to her head, but remained conscious, Regent Taipei staff who accompanied her to the hospital said.
The woman’s blood pressure and heartbeat were found to be normal, the hotel staff added.
The hotel said that it would take responsibility for the accident and it promised to repair the damaged facade and inspect all other exterior walls to ensure safety.
This is the second accident of its kind in two weeks, after a marble slab fell from a building owned by the United Daily News Group on Zhongxiao E Road in Taipei.
The falling slab killed one pedestrian and seriously injured another on March 13.
The incident prompted Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) to order an emergency inspection of building facades and tiles throughout the city.
According to the city’s construction management office, 138 buildings across the city have been identified as having aging frontages.
The owners of the buildings have been told to make safety improvements.
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