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.
Foreign tourists who purchase a seven-day Taiwan Pass are to get a second one free of charge as part of a government bid to boost tourism, the Tourism Administration said yesterday. A pair of Taiwan Passes is priced at NT$5,000 (US$156.44), an agency staff member said, adding that the passes can be used separately. The pass can be used in many of Taiwan’s major cities and to travel to several tourist resorts. It expires seven days after it is first used. The pass is a three-in-one package covering the high-speed rail system, mass rapid transport (MRT) services and the Taiwan Tourist Shuttle services,
Drinking a lot of water or milk would not help a person who has ingested terbufos, a toxic chemical that has been identified as the likely cause of three deaths, a health expert said yesterday. An 83-year-old woman surnamed Tseng (曾) and two others died this week after eating millet dumplings with snails that Tseng had made. Tseng died on Tuesday and others ate the leftovers when they went to her home to mourn her death that evening. Twelve people became ill after eating the dumplings following Tseng’s death. Their symptoms included vomiting and convulsions. Six were hospitalized, with two of them
DIVA-READY: The city’s deadline for the repairs is one day before pop star Jody Chiang is to perform at the Taipei Dome for the city’s Double Ten National Day celebrations The Taipei City Government has asked Farglory Group (遠雄集團) to repair serious water leaks in the Taipei Dome before Friday next week, Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said yesterday, following complaints that many areas at the stadium were leaking during two baseball games over the weekend. The dome on Saturday and Sunday hosted two games in tribute to CTBC Brothers’ star Chou Szu-chi (周思齊) ahead of his retirement from the CPBL. The games each attracted about 40,000 people, filling the stadium to capacity. However, amid heavy rain, many people reported water leaking on some seats, at the entrance and exit areas, and the
BIG collection: The herbarium holds more than 560,000 specimens, from the Japanese colonial period to the present, including the Wulai azalea, which is now extinct in the wild The largest collection of plant specimens in Taiwan, the Taipei Botanical Garden’s herbarium, is celebrating its 100th anniversary with an exhibition that opened on Friday. The herbarium provides critical historical documents for botanists and is the first of its kind in Taiwan, Taiwan Forestry Research Institute director Tseng Yen-hsueh (曾彥學) said. It is housed in a two-story red brick building, which opened during 1924. At the time, it stored 30,000 plant specimens from almost 6,000 species, including Taiwanese plant samples collected by Tomitaro Makino, the “father of Japanese botany,” Tseng said. The herbarium collection has grown in the century since its