The Taiwan High Court yesterday handed down a ruling against the defendants responsible for a 1998 typhoon-related accident that killed a couple in their home in Taipei County.
On Oct. 26, 1998, Typhoon Babs swept across the nation, bringing with it heavy rainfall. During the storm, a mudslide buried the couple's home in Sanchih (
The court found that though heavy rainfall contributed to the mudslide, the accident was largely the result of illegal waste soil dumping by Longyen International Co Ltd (
Longyen had built columbariums, or towers to store the ashes of the dead, on a slope above the victims' home between 1993 and 1997.
The court found that the owner of the company, Lee Shih-tsung (李世聰), and then-deputy general manager of the company, Lin Shen-hsiu (林聖修), had dumped an estimated 80,000m3 of soil on land within 400m to 500m of the columbariums.
To cover up the illegal dumping, the two men then forged construction plans, which were later approved and licensed by the Taipei County Government.
The court found Tsai Jui-ko (
Furthermore, the court found he had failed in his duty despite the fact that complaints had been lodged at the time of the dumping.
The heavy rainfall brought by the typhoon triggered a great volume of soil to slide down the slope, crushing the retaining wall the company had built to hold it.
The powerful mudslide then spilled over roads and farms below the slope, including the residence of the deceased couple.
On the eve of the second anniversary of the couple's death, the High Court sentenced both Lee and Lin to seven years and six months. Tsai, the Taipei County official, was sentenced to six years for malfeasance.
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