The Kaohsiung City Government Department of Health is ready to deliver skin donations from cadavers to hospitals in northern Taiwan that are treating people injured in Saturday’s suspected dust explosion at an amusement park in New Taipei City, a city official said yesterday.
The department and Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital, where the donated skin is stored, are standing by for the deployment of the Taiwan Organ Registry and Sharing Center, a department division head surnamed Wang (王) said.
Almost 500 people were hurt during the explosion and fire at Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸), a water park in New Taipei City’s Bali District, with many suffering from severe and extensive burns. The demand for skin transplants is expected to surge, Wang said.
Kaohsiung Deputy Mayor Derek Chen (陳金德) said that the city government was willing to share its experiences on handling reparations or subrogation of lawsuits for the members of the public, adding that the municipal Department of Health would be glad to help with any needed skin transplants.
Kaohsiung experienced a series of gas pipeline explosions on July 31 and Aug. 1 last year that ripped up entire sections of asphalt and wrecked buildings, killing 32 people and injuring more than 300. The blasts were linked to leaks in a section of an underground pipeline owned by LCY Chemical Corp (李長榮化學).
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
A new tropical storm formed late yesterday near Guam and is to approach closest to Taiwan on Thursday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. Tropical Storm Pulasan became the 14th named storm of the year at 9:25pm yesterday, the agency said. As of 8am today, it was near Guam traveling northwest at 21kph, it said. The storm’s structure is relatively loose and conditions for strengthening are limited, WeatherRisk analyst Wu Sheng-yu (吳聖宇) said on Facebook. Its path is likely to be similar to Typhoon Bebinca, which passed north of Taiwan over Japan’s Ryukyu Islands and made landfall in Shanghai this morning, he said. However, it
COLD FACTS: ‘Snow skin’ mooncakes, made with a glutinous rice skin and kept at a low temperature, have relatively few calories compared with other mooncakes Traditional mooncakes are a typical treat for many Taiwanese in the lead-up to the Mid-Autumn Festival, but a Taipei-based dietitian has urged people not to eat more than one per day and not to have them every day due to their high fat and calorie content. As mooncakes contain a lot of oil and sugar, they can have negative health effects on older people and those with diabetes, said Lai Yu-han (賴俞含), a dietitian at Taipei Hospital of the Ministry of Health and Welfare. “The maximum you can have is one mooncake a day, and do not eat them every day,” Lai
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