The last time Su Chien-yi’s (蘇建益) pregnant wife saw her newlywed husband was on the morning of Aug. 9 last year. Despite a typhoon warning, heavy rains and washed out roads, he had been called in to the office for overtime work.
He never made it home. Su was one of 10 victims on Shuangyuan Bridge (雙園大橋) when it collapsed into the Gaoping River (高屏溪) that afternoon after raging waters washed away its support columns.
There was no warning about the bridge’s imminent collapse, nor was any attempt made to seal off the bridge that connected Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties, despite the record rainfall upstream brought by Typhoon Morakot.
One year later, Su Lee Yu-mei (蘇李玉美) is demanding answers from the government on whether her son’s family is entitled to national compensation. Despite months of consultations, the government has yet to make a decision.
Under the State Compensation Act (國家賠償法), the government is liable for any damage caused by a defect in public facilities, including roads and bridges, or public officials’ negligence.
Chou Chun-mi (周春米), a lawyer representing the victims’ families, said both these factors were evident when the 2.9km bridge collapsed.
“It’s a fact that the bridge washed away and because the victims were found to have died as a result, the government should be liable for compensation,” she said.
However, the Ministry of Transportation and Communications (MOTC) has given conflicting signals on the issue over the past six months. First, it rejected the claim in February, saying the act did not apply in the case of a natural disaster. In May, it asked the families to reopen the case.
A senior Directorate-General of Highways official said there was a policy change after the government decided to compensate the families of four people killed when a landslide buried a section of National Freeway No. 3 in Taipei County in April.
“What we realized was that the motorists are innocent when incidents like this occur,” said Mile Chen (陳茂南), chief secretary at the directorate. “We decided to take another look at their claims as a result.”
Nevertheless, claimants like Su Lee say they are getting tired of waiting while the government decides what should have been apparent from the start: That people drowned because the government was unprepared.
“If President Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) or Minister of Transportation and Communications Mao Chi-kuo’s (毛治國) children had died that day, would the government still be adopting this attitude?” she asked at a press conference held by Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Pan Men-an (潘孟安) yesterday.
Pan said it was incomprehensible that it took the ministry less than a month to decide to compensate the landslide victims’ families, but the Shuangyuan families have been waiting for almost a year.
Representatives of the 22 other people who lost family members in the incident said they were angry with the lack of communication on the progress of the case since May.
“Don’t they feel disgraced or ashamed that we have to hold two press conferences [to ask for information]?” said Lin Liang-lin (林良璘), who lost his brother. “It’s been three months [without] a word.”
The directorate promised to give a decision by Aug. 20, but in the meantime, it said it would hold talks with Chou.
The Central Weather Administration (CWA) today issued a "tsunami watch" alert after a magnitude 8.7 earthquake struck off the Kamchatka Peninsula in northeastern Russia earlier in the morning. The quake struck off the east coast of the Kamchatka Peninsula at 7:25am (Taiwan time) at a depth of about 19km, the CWA said, citing figures from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center. The CWA's Seismological Center said preliminary assessments indicate that a tsunami could reach Taiwan's coastal areas by 1:18pm today. The CWA urged residents along the coast to stay alert and take necessary precautions as waves as high as 1m could hit the southeastern
The National Museum of Taiwan Literature is next month to hold an exhibition in Osaka, Japan, showcasing the rich and unique history of Taiwanese folklore and literature. The exhibition, which is to run from Aug. 10 to Aug. 20 at the city’s Central Public Hall, is part of the “We Taiwan” at Expo 2025 series, highlighting Taiwan’s cultural ties with the international community, National Museum of Taiwan Literature director Chen Ying-fang (陳瑩芳) said. Folklore and literature, among Taiwan’s richest cultural heritages, naturally deserve a central place in the global dialogue, Chen said. Taiwan’s folklore would be immediately apparent at the entrance of the
“China is preparing to invade Taiwan,” Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Francois Wu (吳志中) said in an exclusive interview with British media channel Sky News for a special report titled, “Is Taiwan ready for a Chinese invasion?” the Ministry of Foreign Affairs said today in a statement. The 25-minute-long special report by Helen Ann-Smith released yesterday saw Sky News travel to Penghu, Taoyuan and Taipei to discuss the possibility of a Chinese invasion and how Taiwan is preparing for an attack. The film observed emergency response drills, interviewed baseball fans at the Taipei Dome on their views of US President
Speeding and badly maintained roads were the main causes of a school bus accident on a rainy day in Taipei last year that severely injured two people and left 22 with minor injuries, the Taiwan Transportation and Safety Board said. On March 11 last year, a Kang Chiao International School bus overturned inside the Wenshan Tunnel (文山隧道) on the northbound lane of the Xinyi Expressway. The tour bus, owned by Long Lai Co, exceeded the speed limit after entering the tunnel, the board’s investigation found. Sensing that the rear of the vehicle was swaying, the driver attempted to use the service and exhaust