Prosecutors yesterday requested jail terms of up to five years for Launch Technologies Co chairman Liu An-hao (劉安皓) and five other executives for their roles in a factory fire in September 2023 that killed 10 people and injured more than 100.
The Pingtung District Prosecutors’ Office indicted Liu, general manager Lu Ying-cheng (呂英誠) and four others on charges including involuntary manslaughter and negligence leading to injury.
Prosecutors are seeking the maximum prison sentence of five years for Liu and Lu, citing a disregard for worker safety, including having employees work in a dangerous workplace in which they were constantly under pressure.
Photo: Lee Li-fa, Taipei Times
Liu and Lu failed to prepare safety data displays of information on hazardous chemical products in the workplace, prosecutors said, adding that after the fire the two made excuses and tried to avoid responsibility by blaming others.
The office recommended jail terms of four years and eight months, or four years and 10 months for the other four executives.
The blaze and subsequent explosions at the golf ball factory last year were triggered by 3 tonnes of highly combustible organic peroxides used to manufacture golf ball cores, the office said.
The substance was illegally stored, it said.
Regulations stipulate that the factory was only allowed to have up to 100kg of organic peroxides on site and it had to be stored at ambient temperatures of under 30°C, it said.
Poor storage conditions likely led to the uncontrolled decomposition of the organic compounds, and resulted in the fire and explosions, prosecutors said.
The blaze occurred at the company’s factory at the Pingtung Technology Industrial Park on Sept. 22 last year.
Four firefighters were among those who died, with 14 firefighters among those who were injured.
Advanced International Multitech (VN) Co, the parent company of Launch Technologies, said it “respected” the office’s decision and had reached settlements with many of the people injured in the fire or the families of those who died.
It has set up a NT$500 million (US$16.05 million) trust fund for payments to employees who were affected and the families of those who died, it said.
As of Monday, it had spoken with 129 people affected and reached settlements in 89 cases, with payments so far totaling about NT$240 million, it said.
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