Money donated to help the victims of an explosion at a New Taipei City water park had reached more than NT$1.49 billion (US$47.26 million) as of yesterday morning, according to the New Taipei City Social Welfare Department.
A special relief account set up following the June 27 explosion and ensuing fire has continued to receive donations from around the world, including US$155,600 from the Council of Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce in Vietnam and NT$3 million from the Taipei branch of China Construction Bank, a Chinese state-owned commercial bank.
Liu Mei-te (劉美德), head of the Council of Taiwanese Chambers of Commerce in Vietnam, said that members of the council have always cared about Taiwanese society.
The council's donation drive has met with an enthusiastic response, Liu said.
Li Guofu (李國夫), general manager of the Taipei branch of China Construction Bank, said that the donation made by his office was to reciprocate the money given by Taiwanese and the teams of rescue workers who went to Sichuan to help following a devastating earthquake in 2008.
According to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as of Thursday, nine people had died of injuries sustained in the explosion and 343 people were still being treated at various hospitals nationwide.
Of those who remained hospitalized, 213 were in intensive care units and 162 of them were listed in critical condition.
Nearly 500 people — mostly in their teens and 20s — attending a party at the Formosa Fun Coast water park were injured when large amounts of cornstarch powder thrown at the party ignited.
The cause of the explosion is still being investigated.
The Taipei Department of Health yesterday said it has launched a probe into a restaurant at Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store after a customer died of suspected food poisoning. A preliminary investigation on Sunday found missing employee health status reports and unsanitary kitchen utensils at Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in the department store’s basement food court, the department said. No direct relationship between the food poisoning death and the restaurant was established, as no food from the day of the incident was available for testing and no other customers had reported health complaints, it said, adding that the investigation is ongoing. Later
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