Changhua County government officials have been deemed mostly responsible for a deadly blaze at a commercial building last year, with penalties to be announced later, a Control Yuan report said on Wednesday.
Control Yuan members Yeh Ta-hua (葉大華) and Pasuya Poiconu presented the report after completing a probe into the fire at the Chiaoyu Building in Changhua City that occurred on June 30 last year, which resulted in four deaths and 22 injuries.
The people who died were three guests of an upper floor hotel and one firefighter.
Photo: Liu Hsiao-hsin, Taipei Times
The 30-year-old building had numerous internal renovations, added-on structures and other modifications, which were not inspected by government agencies for fire code and safety compliance, Yeh said, adding that the blaze was the building’s fourth in its history.
The fire burned for nearly nine hours after likely being ignited by either an electrical outlet failure or a burning cigarette on a second-floor staircase. Flames spread quickly through ventilation shafts, mostly affecting the Passion Fruit Hotel on the sixth to ninth floors.
The business was operating as a COVID-19 quarantine hotel at the time.
The fire was due to a series of mistakes and lack of government oversight, and the hotel’s management did not enact fire prevention measures or adhere to safety regulations, Poiconu said.
Government officials and fire inspectors had also failed to inspect the facility, he added.
“It is regrettable that it took a deadly blaze to expose the deficiencies, negligence and dereliction of duty,” Poiconu said.
Firefighters should receive enhanced training and follow the best practices of safety agencies in Japan, the US and the UK, he said, adding that this would include new equipment and education.
The probe consisted of on-site inspections, interviews, and reviews of data and reports.
“We found the numerous safety code contraventions and unlawful registry changes for the upper floors, which were officially for residential use,” Yeh said, adding that a commercial permit was not applied for.
The building also did not have routes for evacuation, which county government officials should have identified, Yeh said.
EVA Airways was ranked the eighth-best airline in the world for this year, the only Taiwanese carrier to make it into the top 25 Airline Excellence Awards this year, aviation reviews Web site AirlineRatings.com said on Wednesday. AirlineRatings.com has a seven-star rating system to evaluate more than 360 airlines around the world every year, EVA Airways said in a statement on Thursday. “We are delighted that efforts by the entire EVA staff have been recognized by Airline Ratings,” EVA Airways president Clay Sun (孫嘉明) said in the release. During the COVID-19 pandemic, the company identified and adopted services and procedures that enhance and
Tropical storm Guchol is moving in a northeasterly direction off the east coast of the Philippines and will not hit Taiwan, but will impact local weather starting on Friday, the Central Weather Bureau said Thursday. The storm would bring a low-pressure system northward toward the vicinity of Taiwan, forecaster Chao Hung (趙竑) said. Northern Taiwan will see intermittent rain showers in the morning, and thunderstorms in the afternoon on Friday, he said, adding that rain would be heavier on the east coast and in the central-southern mountainous areas. Rainfall would continue into Saturday, and would spread throughout Taiwan proper, he
Exiled Chinese democracy advocate Wang Dan (王丹) yesterday denied an accusation by former Taiwanese political worker Lee Yuan-chun (李援軍) that Wang had sexually harassed him in a hotel room in New York nine years ago. There was a huge gap between Lee’s accusation and his own understanding and memory, Wang wrote on Facebook, adding it was hard for him to respond further regarding a “unilateral description” made by someone else. Wang made the remarks after his initial response on Facebook was met with criticism, with people saying he did not directly address the allegation. Lee on Friday wrote on Facebook that he
#METOO MOVEMENT: A woman who formerly worked at the TPP said that she was repeatedly harassed by a party deputy secretary last year and it was covered up Vice President and Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairman William Lai (賴清德) yesterday announced new party procedures for filing complaints and investigating reports of sexual misconduct in response to more accusations of negligence against the party in handling reports of sexual abuse. In what local media dubbed Taiwan’s #MeToo movement, more people went public yesterday with allegations about the DPP, other parties and local governments. Lai said he deeply regrets the situation and apologized to the victims, while also praising them for having the courage to come forward. “When facing bullying and violations in the workplace, it is most important to stand up to
RSS