The Taiwan High Court’s Kaohsiung branch yesterday ruled that 15 residents of Kaohsiung’s Siaolin Village (小林) are to receive state compensation for damage inflicted on their village in 2009 due to Typhoon Morakot, when heavy rain caused a landslide that buried most of the village and killed more than 400 residents.
The judges overturned the first and second rulings, and ordered the Kaohsiung City Government to pay NT$35.5 million (US$1.15 million) in compensation to the 15 residents, who are each to receive between NT$1.5 million and NT$3 million.
The Supreme Court in a final verdict on June 8, 2017, rejected an appeal for financial compensation from 123 survivors.
In that ruling, the judges ordered a retrial at the Taiwan High Court for 15 residents whose homes were within the “potential landslide zone” as determined by the then-Kaohsiung county government.
“We have waited 10 long years to receive this news. I hope that the Kaohsiung City Government does not appeal this ruling, so we can close the lawsuit on this note,” said Tsai Sung-yu (蔡松諭), head of the village support group.
Attorney Jerry Cheng (鄭文龍), who volunteered as a lawyer for the plaintiffs, said he is happy about the verdict, because the judges finally afforded justice and consolation to the victims and their families.
“In the first and second rulings on the class-action lawsuit filed by 123 survivors, the courts made incorrect assumptions, believing that if it was a natural disaster, then government officials are off the hook,” Cheng said.
The Disaster Prevention and Protection Act (災害防救法) has provisions for government agencies to enact measures to prevent or minimize the effects of natural disasters, he said.
“We know that it is impossible to predict and avert the impact of natural disasters, but aims and objectives have been established to mitigate the damages,” Cheng said. “However, the Kaohsiung county government and its employees did not take up these tasks... We hope that local governments can learn from this and plan more carefully for the risks and effects brought by natural disasters.”
Heavy rain from Typhoon Morakot on Aug. 8, 2009, caused a rockslide on Siandu Mountain (獻肚山) on the northeast side of the village the next day. Flash flooding then destroyed most buildings in the village and killed 462 people.
In the class-action lawsuit, the residents said that officials had failed to evacuate the area after the highest-level warning for flooding and landslides had been issued.
Kaohsiung city and county were merged into a special municipality on Dec. 25, 2010.
Hong Kong-based American singer-songwriter Khalil Fong (方大同) has passed away at the age of 41, Fong’s record label confirmed yesterday. “With unwavering optimism in the face of a relentless illness for five years, Khalil Fong gently and gracefully bid farewell to this world on the morning of February 21, 2025, stepping into the next realm of existence to carry forward his purpose and dreams,” Fu Music wrote on the company’s official Facebook page. “The music and graphic novels he gifted to the world remain an eternal testament to his luminous spirit, a timeless treasure for generations to come,” it said. Although Fong’s
China’s military buildup in the southern portion of the first island chain poses a serious threat to Taiwan’s liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply, a defense analyst warned. Writing in a bulletin on the National Defense and Security Research’s Web site on Thursday, Huang Tsung-ting (黃宗鼎) said that China might choke off Taiwan’s energy supply without it. Beginning last year, China entrenched its position in the southern region of the first island chain, often with Russia’s active support, he said. In May of the same year, a Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy (PLAN) force consisting of a Type 054A destroyer, Type 055 destroyer,
Actor Darren Wang (王大陸) was questioned by prosecutors for allegedly orchestrating an attack on a taxi driver after he was allegedly driven on a longer than necessary route in a car he disliked. The questioning at the New Taipei City District Prosecutors’ Office was ongoing as of press time last night. Police have recommended charges of attempted murder. The legally embattled actor — known for his role in the coming-of-age film Our Times (我的少女時代) — is under a separate investigation for allegedly using fake medical documents to evade mandatory military service. According to local media reports, police said Wang earlier last year ordered a
Taiwan is planning to expand the use of artificial intelligence (AI)-based X-ray imaging to customs clearance points over the next four years to curb the smuggling of contraband, a Customs Administration official said. The official on condition of anonymity said the plan would cover meat products, e-cigarettes and heated tobacco products, large bundles of banknotes and certain agricultural produce. Taiwan began using AI image recognition systems in July 2021. This year, generative AI — a subset of AI which uses generative models to produce data — would be used to train AI models to produce realistic X-ray images of contraband, the official
RSS