The Supreme Court yesterday ruled that a Taipei City Government agency must pay NT$1.04 million (US$32,288) in compensation to a woman who fell into a drainage ditch when the guardrail she was holding broke.
The woman surnamed Chung (鍾) was hiking along Jingmei River (景美溪) at Mucha Riverside Park (木柵河濱公園) in Taipei’s Wenshan District (文山) on May 6, 2017, when the incident occurred.
Chung said that she was holding onto the walkway’s metal guardrail with her right hand, but it wobbled and broke off at the base, causing her to fall into a drainage ditch.
She said she hit the drainage ditch wall, then fell to the bottom.
Chung had a minor concussion, a laceration on her forehead, a displaced vertebrae and fractured ribs, as well as contusions on her left hand, waist and legs, the court filing cited her medical report as saying.
She filed a civil lawsuit seeking NT$3.96 million in compensation, which she said would cover her medical expenses, loss of income and the health supplements required for recuperation.
The lawsuit accused the Taipei Public Works Department’s Hydraulic Engineering Office of negligent maintenance.
Office representatives said that an examination indicated that only one screw at one of three base plates at the site had corroded badly, and all three plates were still fastened to a concrete base, so the handrail was still attached at the time.
A team also patrolled the area regularly, inspecting the guardrails and shaking them to check their stability, they said.
No problems were reported prior to the accident, they said, denying negligence.
In the first ruling, the Taipei District Court ordered the office to pay Chung NT$930,000.
Following appeals by both parties, the Supreme Court yesterday upheld a previous ruling by the High Court that NT$1.04 million should be paid.
It is the final ruling in the case.
The German city of Hamburg on Oct. 14 named a bridge “Kaohsiung-Brucke” after the Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung. The footbridge, formerly known as F566, is to the east of the Speicherstadt, the world’s largest warehouse district, and connects the Dar-es-Salaam-Platz to the Brooktorpromenade near the Port of Hamburg on the Elbe River. Timo Fischer, a Free Democratic Party member of the Hamburg-Mitte District Assembly, in May last year proposed the name change with support from members of the Social Democratic Party and the Christian Democratic Union. Kaohsiung and Hamburg in 1999 inked a sister city agreement, but despite more than a quarter-century of
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) yesterday expressed “grave concerns” after Singaporean Prime Minister Lawrence Wong (黃循財) reiterated the city-state’s opposition to “Taiwanese independence” during a meeting with Chinese Premier Li Qiang (李強). In Singapore on Saturday, Wong and Li discussed cross-strait developments, the Singaporean Ministry of Foreign Affairs said in a statement. “Prime Minister Wong reiterated that Singapore has a clear and consistent ‘one China’ policy and is opposed to Taiwan independence,” it said. MOFA responded that it is an objective fact and a common understanding shared by many that the Republic of China (ROC) is an independent, sovereign nation, with world-leading
Temperatures in northern Taiwan are forecast to reach as high as 30°C today, as an ongoing northeasterly seasonal wind system weakens, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. CWA forecaster Tseng Chao-cheng (曾昭誠) said yesterday that with the seasonal wind system weakening, warmer easterly winds would boost the temperature today. Daytime temperatures in northern Taiwan and Yilan County are expected to range from 28°C to 30°C today, up about 3°C from yesterday, Tseng said. According to the CWA, temperature highs in central and southern Taiwan could stay stable. However, the weather is expected to turn cooler starting tonight as the northeasterly wind system strengthens again
The Ministry of Justice Investigation Bureau (MJIB) has been investigating nine shell companies working with Prince Holding Group, and the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office is seeking further prosecution of alleged criminals, a source said yesterday. The nine companies and three Taiwanese nationals were named by the US Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on Oct. 14 as Specially Designated Nationals as a result of a US federal court indictment. Prince Holding founder Chen Zhi (陳志) has been charged with fraud, conspiracy, money laundering and overseeing Prince Holding’s suspected forced-labor camps in Cambodia, the indictment says. Intelligence shared between Taiwan,
RSS