A judicial investigation is under way following the death of a high-school pupil surnamed Huang (黃), aged 15, during a summer camp activity in Hsinchu County.
Preliminary findings indicated a group of 15 young people on Wednesday last week participated in a river tracing event along the Jinping Creek (錦屏溪) in the mountains of Hsinchu County’s Jianshih Township (尖石) as part of a summer camp and sports program.
The river tracing activity was run by camping operator 50T (武林帖), prosecutors said.
Photo: Liao Hsueh-ju, Taipei Times
The proprietor of the company, surnamed Pian (邊), along with two river tracing instructors surnamed Hsu (徐) and Chang (張), were summoned for questioning and released on Friday, after Pian posted NT$150,000 bail and the instructors NT$70,000 each.
Initial investigations show Pian had neither registered the summer camp program nor its activities with the local government, they said.
He also did not pay for liability insurance for accidental injury or death, and had insufficient safety equipment, while the other two were not certified river tracing instructors, prosecutors added.
Although one of the instructors is a certified lifeguard, prosecutors said the activity was illegal, as the regulations on river tracing require one certified instructor for every five participants. At least one instructor must have training and certification as a river tracing guide, they said.
As Hsu and Chang lacked the necessary certification, prosecutors listed them as well as Pian as facing pending charges of negligence causing death.
Huang’s father told reporters he wanted to know why the river tracing activity went ahead despite heavy rains in the mountains upstream earlier in the day.
Witnesses were reported as saying that when the outing started, the water level in Jinping Creek was rising, with high turbidity.
Huang allegedly got stuck between rocks in the creek’s rushing waters. Her father accused the instructors of failing to rescue his daughter, and said they did not administer CPR on her.
Following the incident, the Hsinchu County Government sent inspectors to the site, who confirmed the students had signed up for the summer camp with a New Taipei City-based education organization, which contracted the activity out to 50T.
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