TRANSPORTATION
Eight injured in collision
A collision involving a freight truck and a recreational vehicle (RV) on the Suhua Highway yesterday left eight people injured, including a Nepalese man, according to emergency services. The two vehicles collided head-on at about 9:30am at the 140km mark on the highway, near Wuta in Yilan County, the local Fire Bureau said. Three men and five women, who were all traveling in the RV, were injured and were rushed to St Mary’s Hospital and Poh-Ai Hospital in Luodong (羅東), some of them with broken bones, the bureau said. One of the patients was a Nepalese man who sustained minor chest injuries, Poh-Ai Hospital doctor Lin Chih-ming (林志銘) said. Police are investigating the cause of the accident, which disrupted traffic on the highway for about 80 minutes.
TRANSPORTATION
Flights for stranded tourists
Two Taiwanese airlines have arranged flights to bring home several hundred tourists stranded by the volcanic activity on the Indonesian island of Bali after its main airport reopened on Wednesday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said yesterday. About 600 to 700 Taiwanese have been stranded in Bali after a huge volcanic ash cloud forced the closure of Ngurah Rai International Airport for the past two days, ministry spokesman Andrew Lee (李憲章) said. Airplanes sent by China Airlines and EVA Air were set to reach Bali later yesterday to evacuate tourists who had bought return tickets from the two airlines, Lee said. For those unable to board the flights yesterday, the two airlines will arrange flights to take them today if the airport is still open, Lee said.
SOCIETY
EasyCard gives to charities
EasyCard Corp, the company behind Taipei’s most used e-ticket, yesterday donated NT$500,000 or half of the proceeds made from sales of a limited edition EasyCard, to two local charities. The company launched a special edition EasyCard series featuring top-ranked Taiwanese badminton player Tai Tzu-ying (戴資穎) in September, after her win at this year’s Taipei Summer Universiade. The limited run of 10,000 cards was an instant hit and sold out within half an hour of going on sale. EasyCard Corp yesterday hosted a press conference to make the donations to the Children Are Us Foundation and the Genesis Social Welfare Foundation. Tai, who also attended the event, thanked the company for creating a card in her honor and for making the charitable donations. EasyCard will present Tai with NT$850,000 for her win at the Universiade as part of an ongoing sponsorship deal so she can continue to train and win more international honors for Taiwan, EasyCard Corp chairman Kenneth Lin (林向愷). said.
TRANSPORTATION
HSR tickets go on sale
Tickets for travel on high-speed rail (HSR) trains over the long New Year’s weekend are to go on sale tomorrow, the Taiwan High Speed Rail Co said yesterday. In anticipation of high demand over the Dec. 29 to Jan. 2 period, the company will provide additional train services and will start ticket sales tomorrow at midnight. The company said it would offer an additional 101 services during the New Year holiday period, 42 southbound and 59 northbound, which would bring its total number of services to 811. Travelers can also obtain discounts of 10 to 35 percent on some services, depending on how soon they buy their tickets, the company said.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese