TransAsia issues newspaper apology for Taiwan tragedy
Print Edition
TAIWAN’S TransAsia Airways yesterday ran an apology on the front pages of five local newspapers, pledging to shoulder the “utmost responsibility” after 48 people died when one of its planes crashed in stormy weather.
It came after grieving relatives confronted airline chairman Vincent Lin as he was paying respects to the dead at a funeral home, and as it emerged that a 10-year-old survivor battling burn injuries had been rescued at great risk by two fellow passengers.
The domestic flight from Kaohsiung in Taiwan’s southwest was carrying 54 passengers and four crew when it plunged into houses in Magong in the Penghu Islands on Wednesday, leaving just 10 survivors. Two French medical students were among the dead.
“TransAsia and its staff express our deepest condolences for those who died on Flight GE222 and offer our apologies to the relatives and the injured,” it said in a statement. “TransAsia pledges to the deceased, the survivors and their relatives as well as Penghu residents who were injured to shoulder the utmost responsibility and make every effort to deal with the aftermath and provide the best compensation.”
Meanwhile, Taiwan’s leader Ma Ying-jeou visited 10-year-old Lee Wei-tung, who was rescued by two fellow passengers, themselves also wounded, from the wreckage of the plane.
Lee was transferred to a Taipei hospital for treatment and is in stable condition.
“The pressing task for the government is to clarify the cause of the incident and give the people an answer,” Ma said.
Dozens of workers were still cleaning up the crash site yesterday, disinfecting the area after the bodies of victims were removed and breaking up plane wreckage for removal.
So far, 34 bodies have been identified while dental experts were expected in Penghu to help with the process, officials said.
At a funeral home near the crash site, grief-stricken relatives rounded on Lin, who arrived in Magong early yesterday.
“My son was only 27 years old, give me back my son’s life,” a woman wailed.
The ATR 72-500 propeller plane was trying to land for the second time after aborting the first attempt in thunder and heavy rain as Typhoon Matmo pounded Taiwan.
Five people on the ground were injured in the crash.
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