Taichung police are looking into whether illegal fishing practices caused the death of a Vietnamese man who appeared to have been electrocuted yesterday while fishing near Xinguang Bridge in the city's Houli District (后里), authorities said.
The Taichung Fire Bureau received a report of an incident near the bridge at 4:51pm, and first responders found a foreign male at the scene with no signs of life, authorities said, adding that he was confirmed dead after being taken to hospital.
The man's identity was initially unknown, the Taichung City Police Department's Dajia Precinct said in a statement.
Photo: CNA
A 49-year-old man surnamed Hsu (徐), who reported the incident, told authorities that he had received a call from a Vietnamese man asking for help and rushed to the scene, police said.
Officers contacted a 34-year-old Vietnamese man surnamed Ho, who said the deceased was a fellow countryman surnamed Tran, police said.
Police have confirmed that the victim was a 37-year-old Vietnamese man surnamed Tran.
Ho reportedly said that they had both agreed a week earlier to go fishing on the river with electric fishing gear.
It was raining when Tran died, and their electric gear might have malfunctioned, Ho allegedly said.
Firefighters who arrived at the scene initially suspected that Tran was struck by lightning.
Police said the case is still under investigation as they need to determine the exact location of the incident, the equipment used and whether any illegal activity was involved.
Electrofishing is illegal under the Fisheries Act (漁業法). Perpetrators can face up to five years in prison, and/or a fine of up to NT$150,000.
The Coast Guard Administration (CGA) yesterday said it had deployed patrol vessels to expel a China Coast Guard ship and a Chinese fishing boat near Pratas Island (Dongsha Island, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. The China Coast Guard vessel was 28 nautical miles (52km) northeast of Pratas at 6:15am on Thursday, approaching the island’s restricted waters, which extend 24 nautical miles from its shoreline, the CGA’s Dongsha-Nansha Branch said in a statement. The Tainan, a 2,000-tonne cutter, was deployed by the CGA to shadow the Chinese ship, which left the area at 2:39pm on Friday, the statement said. At 6:31pm on Friday,
The Chinese People’s Liberation Army Navy’s (PLAN) third aircraft carrier, the Fujian, would pose a steep challenge to Taiwan’s ability to defend itself against a full-scale invasion, a defense expert said yesterday. Institute of National Defense and Security Research analyst Chieh Chung (揭仲) made the comment hours after the PLAN confirmed the carrier recently passed through the Taiwan Strait to conduct “scientific research tests and training missions” in the South China Sea. China has two carriers in operation — the Liaoning and the Shandong — with the Fujian undergoing sea trials. Although the PLAN needs time to train the Fujian’s air wing and
Taiwanese celebrities Hank Chen (陳漢典) and Lulu Huang (黃路梓茵) announced yesterday that they are planning to marry. Huang announced and posted photos of their engagement to her social media pages yesterday morning, joking that the pair were not just doing marketing for a new show, but “really getting married.” “We’ve decided to spend all of our future happy and hilarious moments together,” she wrote. The announcement, which was later confirmed by the talent agency they share, appeared to come as a surprise even to those around them, with veteran TV host Jacky Wu (吳宗憲) saying he was “totally taken aback” by the news. Huang,
The American Institute in Taiwan (AIT) put Taiwan in danger, Ma Ying-jeou Foundation director Hsiao Hsu-tsen (蕭旭岑) said yesterday, hours after the de facto US embassy said that Beijing had misinterpreted World War II-era documents to isolate Taiwan. The AIT’s comments harmed the Republic of China’s (ROC) national interests and contradicted a part of the “six assurances” stipulating that the US would not change its official position on Taiwan’s sovereignty, Hsiao said. The “six assurances,” which were given by then-US president Ronald Reagan to Taiwan in 1982, say that Washington would not set a date for ending arm sales to Taiwan, consult
RSS