The money donated to people hurt in the Color Play Asia disaster at the Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸) water park in New Taipei City’s Bali District (八里) is to be distributed based on the severity of their injuries as assessed by doctors, the donation management committee said on Tuesday.
The families of the people who died as a result of the June 27 fire will each receive NT$8.25 million (US$250,973), the committee said.
An amount between NT$65,000 and NT$6.5 million will be given to each of the injured victims according to the severity of their injuries, New Taipei City Public Health Department Commissioner Lin Chi-hung (林奇宏) said, adding that the injuries will be ranked on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the most severe.
Lin said the donations will be distributed in four phases.
Taiwan Society for Burn Injuries and Wound Healing president Dai Niann-tzy (戴念梓) said that while doctors will determine the severity of patients’ injuries, the patients’ families will have the right to request a reassessment.
Donations had reached more than NT$1.61 billion as of the end of last month, New Taipei City Social Welfare Department Commissioner Chang Chin-li (張錦麗) said.
She said the money would be used to help with the recovery and rehabilitation of patients.
A total of 508 people were injured and 12 died as a result of the fire, which broke out when a colored cornstarch powder ignited during a party.
As of Thursday last week, 1,107 people remained hospitalized, with 19 in intensive care units and 12 listed in a critical condition, Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics showed.
Three Taiwanese airlines have prohibited passengers from packing Bluetooth earbuds and their charger cases in checked luggage. EVA Air and Uni Air said that Bluetooth earbuds and charger cases are categorized as portable electronic devices, which should be switched off if they are placed in checked luggage based on international aviation safety regulations. They must not be in standby or sleep mode. However, as charging would continue when earbuds are placed in the charger cases, which would contravene international aviation regulations, their cases must be carried as hand luggage, they said. Tigerair Taiwan said that earbud charger cases are equipped
Foreign travelers entering Taiwan on a short layover via Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport are receiving NT$600 gift vouchers from yesterday, the Tourism Administration said, adding that it hopes the incentive would boost tourism consumption at the airport. The program, which allows travelers holding non-Taiwan passports who enter the country during a layover of up to 24 hours to claim a voucher, aims to promote attractions at the airport, the agency said in a statement on Friday. To participate, travelers must sign up on the campaign Web site, the agency said. They can then present their passport and boarding pass for their connecting international
UNILATERAL MOVES: Officials have raised concerns that Beijing could try to exert economic control over Kinmen in a key development plan next year The Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) yesterday said that China has so far failed to provide any information about a new airport expected to open next year that is less than 10km from a Taiwanese airport, raising flight safety concerns. Xiamen Xiangan International Airport is only about 3km at its closest point from the islands in Kinmen County — the scene of on-off fighting during the Cold War — and construction work can be seen and heard clearly from the Taiwan side. In a written statement sent to Reuters, the CAA said that airports close to each other need detailed advanced
The age requirement for commercial pilots and airline transport pilots is to be lowered by two years, to 18 and 21 years respectively, to expand the pool of pilots in accordance with international standards, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications announced today. The changes are part of amendments to articles 93, 119 and 121 of the Regulations Governing Licenses and Ratings for Airmen (航空人員檢定給證管理規則). The amendments take into account age requirements for aviation personnel certification in the Convention on International Civil Aviation and EU’s aviation safety regulations, as well as the practical needs of managing aviation personnel licensing, the ministry said. The ministry