A 25-year-old man yesterday died of injuries he sustained in the Color Play Asia disaster at Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸) last month, bringing the death toll from the incident to eight.
Chen Meng-hung (陳孟宏) was pronounced dead at Mackay Memorial Hospital in Taipei before midday after his family decided not to continue medical attempts to save him, the hospital said.
Chen suffered second-to-third-degree burns over 55 percent of his body, as well as inhalation burns, the hospital said.
Photo: CNA
His condition was listed as stable, but later deteriorated, it said.
Of the nearly 500 people injured in the June 27 incident, 175 people remained in critical condition as of Sunday.
The accident occurred when cornstarch powder ignited at a party at the Formosa Fun Coast water park in New Taipei City’s Bali District (八里), engulfing partygoers in fire.
New Taipei Social Welfare Department officials expressed sadness over Chen’s death and said they would give his family a funeral subsidy of NT$1 million (US$31,906).
In related news, a government-sponsored organ sharing center yesterday said that the incident appears to have led to a spike in organ donations around the country, with one donation occurring almost daily over the past three weeks.
Organs have been taken from 20 donors in the past three weeks, including seven cases of skin donation, Taiwan Organ Registry and Sharing Center chairman Lee Po-chang (李伯璋) said.
Those figures compare with an average of 15 organ donations a month during the past three years and 30 skin donations a year. One person who donated organs to those injured in the dust explosions made his intentions known in a note he wrote before committing suicide.
Only his skin, corneas and bones were taken as other organs were damaged and not suitable for use.
In recent years, blood banks around the country have often been replenished by donors who give blood in response to major disasters, such as an air crash or the gas explosions in Kaohsiung last year.
Stories of organ donations after people were killed in accidents have inspired more people to follow suit.
Among them was Su Chia-sheng (蘇家陞), a medical student who died on July 10 of injuries sustained in the water park explosion.
Su’s parents decided to donate his organs to fulfill his mission as a doctor.
However, Liu Chia-chi (劉嘉琪), deputy chief executive officer at the organ registry center, cautioned that decisions to make organ donations based on impulse are not sustainable.
With more than 8,700 people in the country waiting for an organ transplant, Liu said she hoped more people would see organ donation as a way of extending one’s life and urged people to show their willingness to donate organs on their health insurance cards.
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