Party organizer jailed for deadly fireball tragedy
Print Edition
THE organizer of a party where a fireball ripped through a Taiwan water park, leaving 15 people dead and hundreds injured, was jailed for four years and 10 months yesterday as the court cited the “excruciating pain” of the bereaved.
Lu Chung-chi, owner of Color Play Asia, was behind the event at which colored corn starch sprayed on around 1,000 partygoers ignited under the heat of stage lights last June, sending them running for their lives.
Almost 500 people were injured in the blast at Formosa Fun Coast, more than 200 seriously. Video footage showed revellers — mostly between 18 and 25 — screaming as they tried to escape the flames.
Some were left with more than 90 percent burns, in some cases leading to amputations. The only undamaged skin on some survivors’ bodies were areas covered by swimsuits.
Although all have now been released from hospital, many are still enduring painful rehabilitation and surgery.
Tribute to victims
Lu, who wasn’t at Taipei’s Shihlin district court, was found guilty of negligence causing death as relatives of victims gathered outside waved banners calling for justice.
A statement from the court after the verdict paid tribute to the victims — and revealed that one bereaved father had taken his own life in grief.
“Most of the victims were very young and their wonderful lives were about to start. They had beautiful dreams to be realized,” it said.
“Because of the explosion, 15 of them lost their lives and most of the survivors suffer tremendous physical and emotional pain and torment.
“Relatives of the deceased suddenly lost their family members and suffered irreparable and excruciating pain and regret,” it added.
The statement said the father of a victim surnamed Wang had committed suicide.
“All of this is enough to show the very serious harm inflicted by the defendant’s offense,” it said.
The case has angered grieving relatives and the families of the injured as only Lu was indicted over the disaster. He was one of nine people investigated, including the chairman and president of the water park.
The high prosecutors’ office told reporters yesterday that it had ordered a district court to reopen the investigation into the other eight after an appeal by a group of victims.
There was criticism of the sentence after the verdict was announced.
“At least the charges were held up, but this is not enough for the relatives. Four years and 10 months is too little,” said Julie Wang, spokeswoman for a victims’ association. Her 21-year-old son suffered 55 percent burns.
Medics described the tragedy as an unprecedented disaster for Taiwan, given the scale and severity of the injuries.
An investigation showed the hottest parts of the stage lights hit temperatures of more than 1,000 degrees Celsius, while the powder’s ignition point was just 500 degrees Celsius.
Chen Lu-yu, whose student son died in the disaster, called for the “real perpetrators” to be brought to justice.
She said the family had donated her son’s organs after his death in the hope that it would enable others to have a “happy and healthy” life.
“I see other families, other people holding grandchildren,” she told reporters. “My son will never have a chance again. He will never have a chance to live out his dreams.”
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