Four suspects were released on bail early Sunday morning after they were questioned by a district prosecutors office in Kaohsiung over a demolition accident two days ago that knocked down a transmission tower, causing train stoppages that affected over 120,000 passengers.

The owner, surnamed Lee (?), of Chiung Te Construction, which had been contracted for a storage silo demolition project by Southeast Cement Corp. at the latter’s plant in Kaohsiung’s Nanzih District, and a Chiung Te manager surnamed Weng (?) were each released on bail of NT$1 million (US$34,800).

In addition, a Chiung Te executive surnamed Lin (?), who was in charge of occupational safety at the demolition site, was released on bail of NT$300,000, and a man surnamed Yeh (?), who is Chiung Te’s subcontractor for the project, was released on bail of NT$600,000, the Ciaotou District Prosecutors Office said.

All four were brought in for questioning on Saturday.

The office explained that after overnight questioning, the individuals were found to be suspected of failing to follow a 3-stage demolition plan and instead, “arbitrarily” instructing workers to knock down a 52-meter tall storage silo with a wrecking ball swung by a crane.

In addition, no appropriate safety precautions were taken for the wrecking operation, the office added.

As a result, the silo fell the wrong way as it was being torn down, hitting a nearby transmission tower, according to the office.

The collapse of the tower cut off the flow of electricity to trains operated by Taiwan High Speed Rail Corp. (THSRC) and the Taiwan Railways Administration (TRA), causing the suspension of train services for up to seven hours that affected 79 THSRC and 30 TRA trains and over 120,000 passengers.

Prosecutors found the four men could have violated construction regulations stipulated in the Criminal Code, but determined there is no need to put them in detention during the investigation into the accident.

State-run utility Taiwan Power Co. (Taipower) and the Tainan and Kaohsiung city governments have vowed to seek compensation for the costs of the power outage.

Chiung Te Constructor had previously been fined for two demolition project accidents in recent years — one involving a worker who sustained severe injuries in 2019 and another in November 2021 involving the death of a worker.

Both accidents were caused by a lack of safety precautions taken while carrying out the demolition work.

Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel