TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – Two workers were charged with negligent homicide Wednesday (Aug. 28) following last year’s crash of a crane on a Taichung Mass Rapid Transit track, causing the death of one passenger.
Prosecutors did not file charges against four companies involved in the construction project using the crane, including developer Highwealth Construction Corporation.
Workers had been taking apart a crane on the 31st floor of the new complex near the MRT line on May 10, 2023. The 40 meter-long crane boom fell on noise barriers next to the track, but a Green Line train hit the obstacle as no emergency alert had been triggered.
An MRT passenger, later identified as a prominent human rights scholar, was killed in the crash, while 15 other passengers were injured.
Taichung district prosecutors said Thursday a worker named Lu (呂) and his supervisor, named Hsu (許), had failed to follow the proper instructions to dismantle the crane, per the Liberty Times. Two supervisors working on the ground floor and the four companies involved in the building project were not indicted due to insufficient evidence.
An arbitration procedure that concluded in January led to Highwealth paying NT$224 million (US$7 million) in compensation to the Taichung City Government and the Taichung Mass Rapid Transit Corporation.
