DEFENSE
Soldier injured by mortar
The Ministry of National Defense has launched a probe into an accident that occurred on Friday morning resulting in an army sergeant sustaining lacerations to his hands and left eyelid after he was apparently hit by a practice mortar round. The injured sergeant in the Army’s 109th Infantry Brigade, surnamed Fan (范), was reportedly hit by a practice round fired from a 120mm mortar training simulator while its range was undergoing maintenance, the ministry said in a statement. The practice round was not loaded with explosives, it said. The sergeant received medical attention at a hospital and was not in a critical condition, it said, adding that a task force has been created to investigate the accident.
SEISMICITY
Earthquake hits off Hualien
A magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck off Hualien County in eastern Taiwan at 00:54am yesterday, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). There were no immediate reports of damage or injuries. The epicenter of the temblor was in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Hualien, 64.9km south of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 28.7km, a report released by the CWA’s Seismology Center indicated. The earthquake’s intensity, which gauges the actual effect of a seismic event, was highest in Taitung’s Chenggong (成功) and Changbin (長濱) townships, as well as Hualien, where it registered as a 4 on Taiwan’s 7-tier intensity scale. The quake also measured an intensity of 3 in Taitung’s Chishang (池上) and Donghe (東河) townships, and Changhua, Nantou and Chiayi counties, the CWA said.
SPORTS
Surfer dies in road crash
Indonesian professional surfer Febri Ansyah died on Friday morning from injuries suffered in a scooter crash, the Taitung County Government said yesterday. Febri’s scooter crashed into a tree and a road sign near the 128km mark on Provincial Highway 11 early on Friday. He later died from severe head wounds, the Taitung County Transportation and Tourism Development Department said. The 24-year-old was in Taitung to compete in this year’s Taiwan Open of Surfing, taking place at Jinzun Harbor from Monday until today. The county government, the competition’s organizer, suspended all events taking place yesterday morning and invited competitors to take part in a “paddle out” ceremony to commemorate Febri. Events were resumed yesterday afternoon, the county government said.
CRIME
Actor indicted over assault
Actor Chris Wang (宥勝) was indicted by the Taipei District Prosecutors’ Office on Wednesday on suspicion of molesting a woman in 2016. According to the office, the alleged victim wrote about what happened to her on Facebook in June, about seven years after the alleged incident. It was then reported to the office by an anonymous person who read the post. The indictment alleged the incident occurred after Wang offered to take the woman home after work. Once there, Wang asked if he could use the bathroom before leaving, but he would not leave after relieving himself, the indictment said. Wang then touched the woman and allegedly tried to remove some of her clothing against her will, it said. Taipei prosecutors recommended that Wang be charged under Article 224 of the Criminal Code, which stipulates that a person who commits an obscene act against another individual’s will should be given a jail sentence ranging from six months to a maximum of five years.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
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