Families and friends of the victims of the gas pipeline explosions in Greater Kaohsiung yesterday vented their anger at LCY Chemical Corp chairman Bowei Lee (李謀偉) when he showed up at the funeral rites for those who died in the incident last week.
Lee was jostled and shouted at by people at the funeral parlor, and one man dumped a cup of tea on the back of Lee’s head as he was answering questions from reporters.
The man was later identified as a father whose son was among the 30 who died in the disaster on Thursday and Friday last week.
Photo: Chang Chung-yi, Taipei Times
Lee bowed his head to apologize and promised his company would make good on financial compensation for the victims.
He also knelt on the ground to honor the deceased.
That did not appease the anger of the bereaved, with some crying out for the return of the lives of their loved ones.
“Give me back my father,” one person shouted, while another yelled: “I want my mother back.”
“You are responsible for killing my son,” one cried, while others hurled epithets such as “crook” and “garbage” at Lee.
It has been one week since the disaster occurred, and yesterday was touqi (頭七), the seventh day after death, when funeral rites for the deceased are conducted, according to Taiwanese folk tradition.
The event was held at the Kaohsiung municipal mortuary.
Some family members were distraught at the slow pace of the inquiry into the incident.
“It has been seven days now, and we still do not know who is responsible for the loss of lives,” one victim’s relative said.
Greater Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊), Minister Without Portfolio Yang Chiu-hsing (楊秋興), Vice Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) attended the rites.
Meanwhile, rescue work had to be temporarily suspended yesterday morning because of heavy rain. Water collected in roads that had caved in after the explosions, turning the 4km stretch of the disaster-hit streets of Cianjhen District (前鎮) into a stream.
The rain also affected the funeral rites, as the canvas put up to serve as a canopy leaked, turning the floor wet and slippery. City officials had to dispatch workers to place cardboards on the floor for people to walk on while conducting funeral rites.
The Centers for Disease Control said the gas pipeline explosions have badly damaged the area’s drainage system and created many water-ditches.
As more rainfall is forecast in the coming days, the centers warned that water drainage problem would put the city at a higher risk of dengue fever.
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
CHANGES: After-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during vacations or after-school study periods must not be used to teach new material, the ministry said The Ministry of Education yesterday announced new rules that would ban giving tests to most elementary and junior-high school students during morning study and afternoon rest periods. The amendments to regulations governing public education at elementary schools and junior high schools are to be implemented on Aug. 1. The revised rules stipulate that schools are forbidden to use after-school tutoring periods, extracurricular activities during summer or winter vacation or after-school study periods to teach new course material. In addition, schools would be prohibited from giving tests or exams to students in grades one to eight during morning study and afternoon break periods, the
AMENDMENT: Contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau must be reported, and failure to comply could result in a prison sentence, the proposal stated The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) yesterday voted against a proposed bill by Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) lawmakers that would require elected officials to seek approval before visiting China. DPP Legislator Puma Shen’s (沈伯洋) proposed amendments to the Act Governing Relations Between the People of the Taiwan Area and the Mainland Area (臺灣地區與大陸地區人民關係條例), stipulate that contact with certain individuals in China, Hong Kong and Macau should be reported, while failure to comply would be punishable by prison sentences of up to three years, alongside a fine of NT$10 million (US$309,041). Fifty-six voted with the TPP in opposition