All of the public donations for the Taroko Express No. 408 derailment would be distributed to the people most affected, with the first payments expected next week at the earliest, Minister of Health and Welfare Chen Shih-chung (陳時中) said yesterday.
The train was traveling from New Taipei City to Taitung on April 2 when it struck a crane truck that had slid down a hill onto the tracks from a construction site outside an entrance to the Cingshuei Tunnel (清水隧道) in Hualien County, killing 49 people and injuring more than 200.
The ministry on April 3 set up a special disaster relief account to accept donations for the “0402 Taroko Express Accident Case,” while a committee was set up to manage and oversee the funds.
Photo: CNA
The account had received about NT$810 million (US$28.49 million), Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lee Li-feng (李麗芬), the committee’s convener, said at its first meeting on Monday.
As many of the people who died were the main breadwinner in their family, the committee decided that at least one-third of the donations would be a one-time payment to support families, Lee said.
The committee would allocate money for seven purposes: living support; medical expenses; education support; counseling services; legal costs and assistance; subsidies for local governments to provide medium to long-term care services; and other purposes approved by the committee, she said.
The account was to be closed at midnight last night, she said.
However, Lee’s announcement sparked debate over why only one-third of the money would go to the families.
As of Tuesday, the ministry had received more than 340,000 donations, totaling more than NT$968 million, and 100 percent of it would go to people affected by the crash, Chen said.
“The recipients include families of people who died, people who were injured, other passengers and rescue personnel,” he said, adding that people who were injured include many who were seriously hurt, while rescuers might face post-traumatic stress disorder.
Aside from a small amount to be distributed to local governments to provide group counseling sessions and care services, all of the money would be offered to people affected by the crash, including individual education trust accounts set up for young children with parents who died, Chen said.
The ministry would not use the money for administrative costs or other government expenses, he said.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-Wong tomorrow, which it said would possibly make landfall near central Taiwan. As of 2am yesterday, Fung-Wong was about 1,760km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, moving west-northwest at 26kph. It is forecast to reach Luzon in the northern Philippines by tomorrow, the CWA said. After entering the South China Sea, Typhoon Fung-Wong is likely to turn northward toward Taiwan, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said, adding that it would likely make landfall near central Taiwan. The CWA expects to issue a land
Taiwan’s exports soared to an all-time high of US$61.8 billion last month, surging 49.7 percent from a year earlier, as the global frenzy for artificial intelligence (AI) applications and new consumer electronics powered shipments of high-tech goods, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. It was the first time exports had exceeded the US$60 billion mark, fueled by the global boom in AI development that has significantly boosted Taiwanese companies across the international supply chain, Department of Statistics Director-General Beatrice Tsai (蔡美娜) told a media briefing. “There is a consensus among major AI players that the upcycle is still in its early stage,”
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) yesterday said it is expected to issue a sea warning for Typhoon Fung-wong this afternoon and a land warning tomorrow. As of 1pm, the storm was about 1,070km southeast of Oluanpi (鵝鑾鼻), Taiwan’s southernmost point, and was moving west-northwest at 28 to 32kph, according to CWA data. The storm had a radius of 250km, with maximum sustained winds of 173kph and gusts reaching 209kph, the CWA added. The storm is forecast to pass near Luzon in the Philippines before entering the South China Sea and potentially turning northward toward Taiwan, the CWA said. CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張峻堯) said
PREPARATION: Ferry lines and flights were canceled ahead of only the second storm to hit the nation in November, while many areas canceled classes and work Authorities yesterday evacuated more than 3,000 people ahead of approaching Tropical Storm Fung-wong, which is expected to make landfall between Kaohsiung and Pingtung County this evening. Fung-wong was yesterday morning downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm as it approached the nation’s southwest coast, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said, as it issued a land alert for the storm. The alert applies to residents in Tainan, Kaohsiung, Pingtung and Taitung counties, and the Hengchun Peninsula (恆春). As of press time last night, Taichung, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Yilan, Miaoli, Changhua, Yunlin, Pingtung and Penghu counties, as well as Chiayi city and county had
RSS