Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Su Ching-chuan (蘇清泉) has been granted deferred prosecution over a fire that killed nine people at Antai Tian-Sheng Memorial Hospital in Pingtung County's Donggang Township (東港) last year, the Pingtung District Prosecutors' Office said today.
Su, who served as the hospital's honorary director and previously held the role of director, was among four people granted deferred prosecution for alleged crimes including negligent homicide, prosecutors said.
Photo: Chen Yen-ting, Taipei Times
The blaze broke out in the hospital's power supply center and spread rapidly to upper floors on Oct. 3 last year, killing eight bedridden patients and one hospital employee, Pingtung County officials said at the time.
Prosecutors said Su and his elder brother, Su Wei-sung (蘇威菘), the hospital's head of general affairs, illegally expanded the power supply center to five floors without applying for a permit.
The expansion, which included an elevated walkway connecting the new structure to the main hospital building, contravened the Medical Care Act (醫療法) and the Building Act (建築法), enabling smoke to spread into the emergency stairwell during the fire, the office said.
According to the prosecutors, the fire began after a technician surnamed Cheng (鄭) improperly used an extension cord while addressing flooding caused by Typhoon Krathon, leading to a short circuit that sparked the fire.
They also said a safety inspector surnamed Kuo (郭), who was responsible for the hospital's fire safety inspection reporting, knew the upper floors were illegal, but failed to report them.
All four people reached settlements with the families of the victims, and the illegal structures have been dismantled, the office said.
The prosecutors cited their confessions, cooperation with investigators and the hospital's long-term contributions to medical services in southern Pingtung County as factors in the decision to suspend prosecution.
As part of the agreement, Su must pay NT$10 million (US$333,673) to the state treasury and conduct 20 free medical clinics in rural areas over two years, prosecutors said.
Su Wei-sung must pay NT$5 million and complete 40 hours of labor at public welfare institutions over one year.
Cheng was ordered to pay NT$600,000, attend eight sessions of legal education and perform 80 hours of public labor services, while Kuo must pay NT$800,000 and deliver 20 free lectures to professional fire safety training institutions and fire departments.
Su Ching-chuan, who is the head of the KMT's Pingtung County branch, served as an at-large legislator from 2012 to 2016 and was re-elected to the lawmaking role in January last year.
Eight Chinese naval vessels and 24 military aircraft were detected crossing the median line of the Taiwan Strait between 6am yesterday and 6am today, the Ministry of National Defense said this morning. The aircraft entered Taiwan’s northern, central, southwestern and eastern air defense identification zones, the ministry said. The armed forces responded with mission aircraft, naval vessels and shore-based missile systems to closely monitor the situation, it added. Eight naval vessels, one official ship and 36 aircraft sorties were spotted in total, the ministry said.
INCREASED CAPACITY: The flights on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays would leave Singapore in the morning and Taipei in the afternoon Singapore Airlines is adding four supplementary flights to Taipei per week until May to meet increased tourist and business travel demand, the carrier said on Friday. The addition would raise the number of weekly flights it operates to Taipei to 18, Singapore Airlines Taiwan general manager Timothy Ouyang (歐陽漢源) said. The airline has recorded a steady rise in tourist and business travel to and from Taipei, and aims to provide more flexible travel arrangements for passengers, said Ouyang, who assumed the post in July last year. From now until Saturday next week, four additional flights would depart from Singapore on Monday, Wednesday, Friday
The Ministry of National Defense yesterday reported the return of large-scale Chinese air force activities after their unexplained absence for more than two weeks, which had prompted speculation regarding Beijing’s motives. China usually sends fighter jets, drones and other military aircraft around the nation on a daily basis. Interruptions to such routine are generally caused by bad weather. The Ministry of National Defense said it had detected 26 Chinese military aircraft in the Taiwan Strait over the previous 24 hours. It last reported that many aircraft on Feb. 25, when it spotted 30 aircraft, saying Beijing was carrying out another “joint combat
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) today said that if South Korea does not reply appropriately to its request to correct Taiwan’s name on its e-Arrival card system before March 31, it would take corresponding measures to alter how South Korea is labeled on the online Taiwan Arrival Card system. South Korea’s e-Arrival card system lists Taiwan as “China (Taiwan)” in the “point of departure” and “next destination” fields. The ministry said that it changed the nationality for South Koreans on Taiwan’s Alien Resident Certificates from “Korea” to “South Korea” on March 1, in a gesture of goodwill and based on the
RSS