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Organizer of deadly Taiwan party ordered to pay US$15 million

15 people died & over 500 were injured at the Color Play Asia event in 2015

LiFTED | Marcus Aurelius | 21 Apr 2023


The scene was straight out of a zombie-apocalypse movie. 4,000 young men and women in bathing suits danced and sang along to Hip Hop music at the Color Play Asia event at the Formosa Fun Coast Amusement Park on June 17, 2015 in Taiwan. People were throwing colored powder at each other, taking pictures, and having the times of their lives. In an instant, though, this dream party turned into a nightmare many people didn’t recover from.

At 8:30 pm, event staff used gas canisters and air blowers to shoot green and yellow dust all over the crowd. This created an effect like that of India’s Festival of Colors as the crowd screamed in joy. Soon, the dust that was corn starch turned into flames and created a fireball that ripped through the crowd killing 15 students and injuring over 500. The air and ground were covered in flames and videos from the party made it look like hell on Earth. Soon, people were jumping into the pools of the waterpark trying to ease the pain of the burns. Those that weren’t hurt were helping people get to ambulances by carrying them on water rings as stretchers.

Lu Chung-chi [呂忠吉] was the organizer of the event, and he is serving a five-year sentence in jail for negligent manslaughter. A court in Taipei decided on April 19 that he will have to pay US$15 million to 98 victims and relatives of the deceased. The verdict placed the blame squarely on the organizer as six other defendants as well as the waterpark, which has been closed ever since, do not have to pay compensation. A separate case for 337 victims demanding US$24 million is scheduled for court on May 16.

[From Taiwan News]