Family members of tour bus driver Kang Yu-hsun (康育薰) yesterday condemned Iris Travel Service Co owner Chou Pi-tsang (周比蒼) for treating them with indifference after the Ministry of Labor said that the agency should pay Kang’s family NT$2.43 million (US$79,664) in compensation.
Investigation results released by the Taipei Department of Labor showed that Kang had worked for 12 consecutive days prior to the accident, which constituted an occupational hazard that led to a deadly bus crash on the Chiang Wei-shui Memorial Freeway (National Freeway No. 5) last month, killing 33 people, including Kang, and injuring 11.
Accompanied by Taipei City Councilor Chang Mao-nan (張茂楠) of the Democratic Progressive Party, Kang’s family members told a Taipei news conference that Chou has not discussed compensation with them since the accident.
Photo: CNA
Kang’s wife, surnamed Hsieh (謝), said her family is financially burdened after her husband, the main income earner, was killed, and urged Chou to pay the compensation owed them.
Kang’s daughter asked how Chou could sleep at night after what happened.
Kang’s older sister lambasted the agency, saying that it had attempting to shift all responsibility for the accident to Kang.
She decried the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office’s handling of the case, saying that because prosecutors had not informed Kang’s family before inspecting the bus wreckage, they had been denied an opportunity to prove that Kang was not at fault for the accident.
The bus, manufactured by Volvo, had a 39 passenger capacity, but had seats for up to 45 passengers, she said.
She also questioned whether the prosecutors’ office compared the weight, dimensions and brakes of the bus with buses of the same model owned by other travel agencies, accusing the office of attempting to tilt its probe in favor of the rich and powerful.
She said that Yeow Lih Transportation, whose partnership with Iris allowed drivers take passengers on more tours, threatened to sue Kang’s family if it did not settle for NT$4 million, far less than the Act for Protecting Worker from Occupational Accidents (職業災害勞工保護法) and the Consumer Protection Act (消費者保護法) stipulate.
Citing the occupational hazard act, the department said that Iris should compensate Kang’s family the equivalent of 45 times Kang’s monthly salary, and passed the ruling to the Ministry of Labor for review.
The ministry approved the ruling and set the deadline for compensation to be paid today, the department said.
If Iris fails to pay the compensation, it faces a NT$1 million fine, the department said, adding that it would continue to fine the company until the compensation is paid.
Speaking by telephone, Chou said that he would pay the compensation on the condition that Kang’s family bears responsibility for the accident and compensates him.
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