TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — The organizer of a colored dust party at a New Taipei City water park that led to 15 deaths and more than 400 injured in 2015 will have to pay NT$458.8 million ($15 million) in compensation to 98 victims and relatives, a court decided Wednesday (April 19).
Appeals are still possible against the verdict by the Shilin District Court, which said six other defendants, including the owner of the water park, did not have to pay compensation, the Liberty Times reported.
On June 27, 2015, the Formosa Fun Coast water park in the district of Bali was the scene of a party organized by two small companies registered by Lu Chung-chi (呂忠吉). During the “Color Play Asia” event, colored dust was thrown into the air over the heads of partygoers, but heat from the lighting turned it into a fireball, eventually resulting in the deaths of 15 people, mostly young partygoers who died over the following months.
Lu started serving a five-year prison sentence for negligent manslaughter in January 2019, but victims and relatives filed a class-action suit, which the court handled over the past five years.
A separate case, with the Consumers Foundation demanding NT$7.2 billion on behalf of 337 victims, is still under review, with the Shilin District Court having scheduled May 16 for its next session on the issue.