The Tainan branch of the Taiwan High Court on Friday handed down five-year sentences for “negligent homicide” to five defendants over the deaths of 115 people in a housing complex that were killed when an earthquake hit the city in February last year.
The court said it withdrew a ruling made by the Tainan District Court in November last year and issued a new verdict, because prosecutors had asked to add another injured person to the case.
In Friday’s ruling, the defendants were given a five-year sentence and fined NT$90,000 each — the same sentence handed down by the lower court. It is the maximum penalty for “homicide through professional negligence.”
The defendants included Lin Ming-hui (林明輝), owner of Weiguan Corp, which built the Weiguan Jinlong housing complex in 1993.
The complex collapsed following a magnitude 6.4 earthquake on Feb. 6 last year, killing 115 people and injuring 96.
The other four defendants — responsible for designing and building the units — were Hung Hsien-han (洪仙汗), manager of the construction company’s design department; Cheng Tung-hsu (鄭東旭), contracted structural engineer for the project; and architects Chang Kuei-pao (張魁寶) and Cheng Chin-kuei (鄭進貴).
An investigation found that the complex was poorly designed and built, and that inferior materials were used to save costs.
Investigators found that Lin had ordered Hung to minimize costs during the design and planning stages, as well as use less than the required number of reinforcements for beam column joints.
Hung was also instructed to reduce the size of some pillars to further cut costs.
Cheng Tung-hsu failed to factor in the weight of some of the pillars and beams, reducing the building’s net load-bearing capacity by 44.3 percent and earthquake resistance by 16.3 percent.
Meanwhile, Cheng Chin-kui and Chang helped the company acquire construction certification and other documents without properly supervising the design work, investigators said.
The combination of negligence and cost-cutting led to the collapse of the building that resulted in the loss of life, investigators said.
A survivor of the collapse on Friday said they hope that the government improves construction related laws to ensure building safety and prevent similar incidents.
POLAM KOPITIAM CASE: Of the two people still in hospital, one has undergone a liver transplant and is improving, while the other is being evaluated for a liver transplant A fourth person has died from bongkrek acid poisoning linked to the Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) restaurant in Taipei’s Far Eastern Sogo Xinyi A13 Department Store, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said yesterday, as two other people remain seriously ill in hospital. The first death was reported on March 24. The man had been 39 years old and had eaten at the restaurant on March 22. As more cases of suspected food poisoning involving people who had eaten at the restaurant were reported by hospitals on March 26, the ministry and the Taipei Department of Health launched an investigation. The Food and
A fourth person has died in a food poisoning outbreak linked to the Xinyi (信義) branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam (寶林茶室) in Taipei, Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Victor Wang (王必勝) said on Monday. It was the second fatality in three days, after another was announced on Saturday. The 40-year-old woman experienced multiple organ failure in the early hours on Monday, and the family decided not to undergo emergency resuscitation, Wang said. She initially showed signs of improvement after seeking medical treatment for nausea, vomiting and diarrhea, but her condition worsened due to an infection, he said. Two others who
The long-awaited Taichung aquarium is expected to open next year after more than a decade of development. The building in Cingshui District (清水) is to feature a large ocean aquarium on the first floor, coral display area on the second floor, a jellyfish tank and Dajia River (大甲溪) basin display on the third, a river estuary display and restaurant on the fourth, and a cafe and garden on the fifth. As it is near Wuci Fishing Port (梧棲漁港), many are expecting the opening of the aquarium to bring more tourism to the harbor. Speaking at the city council on Monday, Taichung City Councilor
Taiwanese should be mindful when visiting China, as Beijing in July is likely to tighten the implementation of policies on national security following the introduction of two regulations, a researcher said on Saturday. China on Friday unveiled the regulations governing the law enforcement and judicial activities of national security agencies. They would help crack down on “illegal” and “criminal” activities that Beijing considers to be endangering national security, according to reports by China’s state media. The definition of what constitutes a national security threat in China is vague, Taiwan Thinktank researcher Wu Se-chih (吳瑟致) said. The two procedural regulations are to provide Chinese