Families of those affected by the inferno at the Formosa Fun Coast (八仙樂園) water park yesterday said justice had not been served after the Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office indicted only event organizer Lu Chung-chi (呂忠吉).
Lin Wei (林緯), a member of a self-help association established following the June 27 disaster, said he had hoped the government would make public a complete investigation into the incident, as well as provide a fair judicial proceeding.
However, he was “very disappointed” that only one person was charged, Lin said.
Photo: Taipei Times
Lin’s younger sister, Lin Yi (林誼), sustained third-degree burns over parts of her body and is still recuperating in hospital, he said.
He asked why prosecutors did not raise aspects regarding fire safety inspections and public security with the New Taipei City government, as the park is in the municipality’s Bali District (八里).
Lin said government-backed events with large crowds that are contracted out to private companies, such as the New Year’s Eve fireworks displays at Taipei 101, should be the responsibility of the elected authorities.
“If there were deaths or injuries at such an event, would a city government be allowed to wash its hands of responsibility?” he asked.
Chu Pang-yu (朱邦宇), whose daughter sustained burns to 78 percent of her body and is still receiving medical treatment, accused President Ma Yin-jeou (馬英九) of making empty promises.
“When Ma went to hospitals to visit the burns patients and meet with families, he assured us that he would bear the responsibility. What has become of his assurances?” Chu said.
“We have a rotten justice system,” he said. “I could not believe the indictment. Why were executives of Formosa Fun Coast cleared of responsibility?”
Chu said the disaster had killed many people, but defendants were released without high bails, while hospitals, and health and welfare agencies spent huge amounts of money on medical costs.
“Prosecutors only charged Lu, who has little in the way of assets to his name,” Chu said.
“It is not possible for Lu to pay the medical expenses. So the government will be saddled with the debt. Even if Lu is to serve time in jail, the government has to pay money for his incarceration,” he added.
“Is this fair on the public?” Chu asked.
Chang Kuo-sung (張國頌), an expert in safety and evacuation training for public events, said the firefighting and safety equipment at the park did not match regulated standards, while the emergency response and evacuation plans were totally inadequate.
He said the park management and local government were negligent.
“[Local] government agencies made inspections and held a drill at Formosa Fun Coast, but it was only for a small event, not for a large-scale event,” Chang said. “The whole process looked like play acting, with all the answers already provided.”
“Government inspectors did not check how park management would respond in emergency situations,” he said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
THUGGISH BEHAVIOR: Encouraging people to report independence supporters is another intimidation tactic that threatens cross-strait peace, the state department said China setting up an online system for reporting “Taiwanese independence” advocates is an “irresponsible and reprehensible” act, a US government spokesperson said on Friday. “China’s call for private individuals to report on alleged ‘persecution or suppression’ by supposed ‘Taiwan independence henchmen and accomplices’ is irresponsible and reprehensible,” an unnamed US Department of State spokesperson told the Central News Agency in an e-mail. The move is part of Beijing’s “intimidation campaign” against Taiwan and its supporters, and is “threatening free speech around the world, destabilizing the Indo-Pacific region, and deliberately eroding the cross-strait status quo,” the spokesperson said. The Chinese Communist Party’s “threats