The money donated to people hurt in the Color Play Asia disaster at the Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸) water park in New Taipei City’s Bali District (八里) is to be distributed based on the severity of their injuries as assessed by doctors, the donation management committee said on Tuesday.
The families of the people who died as a result of the June 27 fire will each receive NT$8.25 million (US$250,973), the committee said.
An amount between NT$65,000 and NT$6.5 million will be given to each of the injured victims according to the severity of their injuries, New Taipei City Public Health Department Commissioner Lin Chi-hung (林奇宏) said, adding that the injuries will be ranked on a scale from 1 to 10, with 10 being the most severe.
Lin said the donations will be distributed in four phases.
Taiwan Society for Burn Injuries and Wound Healing president Dai Niann-tzy (戴念梓) said that while doctors will determine the severity of patients’ injuries, the patients’ families will have the right to request a reassessment.
Donations had reached more than NT$1.61 billion as of the end of last month, New Taipei City Social Welfare Department Commissioner Chang Chin-li (張錦麗) said.
She said the money would be used to help with the recovery and rehabilitation of patients.
A total of 508 people were injured and 12 died as a result of the fire, which broke out when a colored cornstarch powder ignited during a party.
As of Thursday last week, 1,107 people remained hospitalized, with 19 in intensive care units and 12 listed in a critical condition, Ministry of Health and Welfare statistics showed.
Honor guards are to stop performing changing of the guard ceremonies around a statue of Chiang Kai-shek (蔣介石) to avoid “worshiping authoritarianism,” the Ministry of Culture said yesterday. The fate of the bronze statue has long been the subject of fierce and polarizing debate in Taiwan, which has transformed from an autocracy under Chiang into one of Asia’s most vibrant democracies. The changing of the guard each hour at the Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall in Taipei is a major tourist attraction, but starting from 9am on Monday, the ceremony is to be moved outdoors to Democracy Boulevard, outside the eponymous blue-and-white memorial
The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) supports peaceful unification with China, and President William Lai (賴清德) is “a bit naive” for being a “practical worker for Taiwanese independence,” former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) said in an interview published yesterday. Asked about whether the KMT is on the same page as the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) and the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) on the issue of Taiwanese independence or unification with China, Ma told the Malaysian Chinese-language newspaper Sin Chew Daily that they are not. While the KMT supports peaceful unification and is against unification by force, the DPP opposes unification as such and
The annual Taipei Summer Festival, which starts today, is to tone down its fireworks displays, the Taipei Department of Information and Tourism said on Monday. Fireworks displays are to be held at the riverside site in Datong District’s (大同) Dadaocheng (大稻埕) area on four days at this year’s festival, with the first today, and then on Wednesday next week, July 31 and Aug. 10, the department said. There were eight displays last year, with the reduction aimed at minimizing inconvenience to local residents, it said. The first three shows, which are all on Wednesdays, are to last for five minutes, while the final
FATAL ILLNESS: Untreated symptoms can rapidly worsen to complications such as high fever, seizures and loss of consciousness, and can be life-threatening, a doctor said Hospitals have been reporting dozens of people with heat-related illnesses every day over the past week, given continuous high daytime temperatures, so recognizing the early signs of heatstroke is crucial in preventing serious complications, a Taipei City Hospital emergency physician said. The Central Weather Administration yesterday issued a heat alert for 19 cities and counties across Taiwan, with temperatures in New Taipei City, Miaoli County and Pingtung County likely to exceed 38°C, and temperatures in 12 cities and counties likely to exceed 36°C for three days straight. More than a dozen people were taken to hospitals for heat-related illnesses every day from