The father of three children who were hit by a car on a pedestrian crossing on Thursday was granted one day’s prison leave the next day to visit two of them in hospital, said the Taichung Prison, where he has been serving a five-year sentence.
The man, surnamed Chen (陳), visited his two daughters on Friday night at Changhua Christian Hospital and Show Chwan Memorial Hospital, respectively, where they are both in intensive care, following the road incident in Changhua County, the prison said.
Chen has been referred to a counselor for mental support, it added.
Chen’s three children, all of
elementary-school age, were hit by a car on a pedestrian crossing in the county’s Shengang Township (伸港) at 6:21pm on Thursday, police said.
The two older siblings, two girls, sustained severe injuries, while their brother had bruises on his left foot, the hospitals where they were taken said.
One sister appears to have sustained serious brain damage, and the other one is intubated, as her blood pressure remains very low, they said.
Their brother, who was not hospitalized, on Friday said that when he and his sisters were crossing the street, they saw a car approaching, and his eldest sister pulled them into a run to get across the street quickly.
However, they were hit by the car when they were almost on the other side, he said.
The 73-year-old driver surnamed Hsiao (蕭) was driving without a license, the police said.
It has not yet been determined who had the right of way on the pedestrian crossing at the time of the incident, or how fast the car was going, police said, adding that the driver’s breath alcohol test was negative.
The three children are usually picked up from school by their uncle, who is their primary caretaker, but he was recovering on Thursday from eye surgery, therefore they had to go home by themselves, the school said.
The children’s parents are divorced, their grandfather said.
The three children have a very close relationship and they look out for each other and do the household chores together, he said.
Meanwhile, following criticism that the crossing where the incident happened is too long and oblique, a maintenance worker at the Highway Bureau said the agency and police have conducted an inspection of the incident site and found no problems with the signals or the line markings.
However, they would consider how to improve the crossing such as by marking out a pedestrian island, the worker said.
‘DENIAL DEFENSE’: The US would increase its military presence with uncrewed ships, and submarines, while boosting defense in the Indo-Pacific, a Pete Hegseth memo said The US is reorienting its military strategy to focus primarily on deterring a potential Chinese invasion of Taiwan, a memo signed by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth showed. The memo also called on Taiwan to increase its defense spending. The document, known as the “Interim National Defense Strategic Guidance,” was distributed this month and detailed the national defense plans of US President Donald Trump’s administration, an article in the Washington Post said on Saturday. It outlines how the US can prepare for a potential war with China and defend itself from threats in the “near abroad,” including Greenland and the Panama
A wild live dugong was found in Taiwan for the first time in 88 years, after it was accidentally caught by a fisher’s net on Tuesday in Yilan County’s Fenniaolin (粉鳥林). This is the first sighting of the species in Taiwan since 1937, having already been considered “extinct” in the country and considered as “vulnerable” by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. A fisher surnamed Chen (陳) went to Fenniaolin to collect the fish in his netting, but instead caught a 3m long, 500kg dugong. The fisher released the animal back into the wild, not realizing it was an endangered species at
The High Prosecutors’ Office yesterday withdrew an appeal against the acquittal of a former bank manager 22 years after his death, marking Taiwan’s first instance of prosecutors rendering posthumous justice to a wrongfully convicted defendant. Chu Ching-en (諸慶恩) — formerly a manager at the Taipei branch of BNP Paribas — was in 1999 accused by Weng Mao-chung (翁茂鍾), then-president of Chia Her Industrial Co, of forging a request for a fixed deposit of US$10 million by I-Hwa Industrial Co, a subsidiary of Chia Her, which was used as collateral. Chu was ruled not guilty in the first trial, but was found guilty
DEADLOCK: As the commission is unable to forum a quorum to review license renewal applications, the channel operators are not at fault and can air past their license date The National Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday said that the Public Television Service (PTS) and 36 other television and radio broadcasters could continue airing, despite the commission’s inability to meet a quorum to review their license renewal applications. The licenses of PTS and the other channels are set to expire between this month and June. The National Communications Commission Organization Act (國家通訊傳播委員會組織法) stipulates that the commission must meet the mandated quorum of four to hold a valid meeting. The seven-member commission currently has only three commissioners. “We have informed the channel operators of the progress we have made in reviewing their license renewal applications, and
RSS