Category：Society

Kid on bike with training wheels runs red light and crashes into bus

A kid riding a bike with training wheels scared locals witless in Kaohsiung’s Siaogang District on Monday evening, after running a red light and crashing into a bus. The child was speeding down a road and failed to break at the traffic light, causing him to crash onto the side of a bus that was making a turn at the intersection. Fortunately, the kid made it out alive, and police are now looking for his parents, who could face a fine. Let’s hear more.

Witness
Saw the crash
The bus was making a turn, but the vehicle is so long that the driver didn’t see the kid. It was turning really slowly. Had it been any faster, the kid could’ve got run over.

Resident
Kaohsiung
Last week, that kid was riding his bike recklessly and crashing into everything, like a scooter someone parked next to the utility pole.

Member of public
Weighing in
The parents should be keeping watch over him.

Chen Kui-ho
Police officer
We are looking for the child’s parents. The bus does not seem to have broken any traffic laws. The child made an illegal right turn on a slow vehicle, which is finable with NT$300 to NT$1,200.

The kid has been going out on bike rides during the summer break. In this case, he picked up speed as he zipped along the road, apparently unaware of the danger he was putting himself in. Though he hit the back wheel of the bus, he didn’t get trapped underneath the vehicle, and lived to tell the tale.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#closeone #bike #bicycle #training #kid #summer #summerbreak

2026-07-28

Taiwanese woman given 11 years for poisoning Australian

Taipei District court announced its first-instance verdict for the shocking case of an exchange student who was poisoned by beverages laced with rat poison. Australian national Alex Shorey’s ex-girlfriend has been given an 11-year, 2-month sentence for attempted murder, but the case can be appealed. With Shorey absent from the verdict announcement, his lawyer spoke on his behalf, explaining that the punishment was just and fair. The lawyer also revealed that they’ll be seeking compensation.

This ordeal started back in 2023, when the perpetrator Ms. Yang met Shorey via Facebook. The two ended up having an open relationship. Struggling to support himself without a stable income, Shorey was planning to return to Australia when Yang, who wanted him to stay in Taiwan, laced Shorey’s beverages with rat poison on two separate occasions; Yang also stopped Shorey from going to the emergency room. At a later time Yang poisoned Shorey with rat poison again after allegedly becoming jealous after discovering Shorey was intimate with his former employer.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

2026-07-22

Traffic chaos after dump truck loses two rear wheels

A terrifying scene unfolded on a busy road in Taoyuan after a dump truck suddenly lost not one, but two of its rear wheels while driving. The runaway tires bounced through traffic like deadly projectiles, smashing into a taxi and a factory gate while narrowly missing another truck at a busy intersection. Miraculously, no one was injured, but the dramatic incident was all caught on camera.

The rearview camera on this taxi captured the moment that, not one, but two wheels of a massive dump truck became loose and rolled off to then tear through traffic.

The wheels rolled along, bouncing over bumps and heading straight into other vehicles, turning the road into a game of Frogger. One of them smashed straight into a taxi, while the other reached the intersection and barely just missed a cement mixer truck.

Shen Chien-lin
Police officer
The momentum kept the tires rolling forward. They crashed into a taxi and the front door of a building. Fortunately, nobody was hurt.

The hair-raising scene took place last Thursday afternoon in Taoyuan’s Luzhu District, as the driver of the dump truck, Mr. Lu, was driving along Nankan Road. Sec. 2. The wheels flew off the vehicle without a warning, but fortunately, they caused no injuries.

Shen Chien-lin
Police officer
Regarding the tires falling off, the truck driver faces a fine of between NT$1,000 and NT$6,000, in accordance with the relevant traffic law.

The two tires became dangerous projectiles tearing through the road, but luckily, no harm came to anybody. One smashed against a taxi, and the other against a building’s door, damages which the driver will have to provide compensation for.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#traffic #taiwan #mayhem #wheel #tire

2026-07-20

Truck driver walks away mostly unscathed after Miaoli rockslide

Last weekend all of Taiwan was drenched by typhoon rains, and Monday this week it was raining rocks in Miaoli’s Dahu Township. On July 13 at night, a landslide of boulders came rumbling down the mountainside, pinning a truck against the guardrail of Miaoli Route 62. The lucky truck driver was somehow able to walk away mostly unscathed, yet problems remain for Miaoli County government, which still needs to fix the road.

This surveillance camera shows that a barrage of rocks of all sizes are falling down the hillside, but the feed got cut off, presumably by the landslide that came rumbling down and into the path of a truck driver surnamed Luo.

Voice of Mr. Luo
Truck driver
I suddenly heard the sounds of something rumbling and then everything went dark. Then it was just “boom, boom, boom,” that’s what it sounded like.

On July 13 at night, the 46-year-old driver was on his way to deliver goods when falling boulders pinned his truck against the guardrail. His vehicle’s exterior was twisted and crunched, but fortunately for the driver, he was able to walk away with just some skin abrasions.

Voice of Mr. Luo
Truck driver
I told myself then that my wife and child are at home waiting for me to come back. So I used my foot to kick open the door, and then I knew that I had to start running forward; if I didn’t start running, I was going to die.

Huang Hui-chin
Dahu Township chief
The driver, who must’ve been scared to death, was able to walk away with only some scrapes. He was asked if he wanted to go to the hospital, but he said he was okay. We went to the accident site this morning, and that’s when we discovered all the rocks on the mountainside had fallen down. There was probably 1,000 or 2,000 tons of rocks.

The section of Miaoli Route 62 that has boulders blocking both lanes is in Dahu Township’s Fuxing Village. This road is notorious for having incidences like this landslide after there are bouts of heavy rain. Miaoli Commissioner Chung Tung-chin suggested creating a shortcut road, but that all depends on the road’s repair budget, which will require financial assistance from the central government.

Chung Tung-chin
Miaoli Commissioner
In terms of making a shortcut road here, the cost of that will probably be quite substantial, so it’ll be difficult to do if only the county government has to pay for it. So, for this aspect, I hope that the central government can work with our 2 legislators to come to an agreement as soon as possible.

Dahu Township isn’t the only place in Miaoli dealing with a blocked road; students and workers in Nanzhuang Township’s Donghe Village have July 14 off due to a collapsed section of Miaoli Route 21. The sinkhole is directly in front of Shibi Bridge.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#Miaoli #rainingrocks #lanslide #truck #thatwasclose

2026-07-14

Metal sheets fall on road, building facade crumbles

A scooter driver barely dodged a tragic end in Taoyuan last week, after the strong winds of Typhoon Bavi sent several huge sheets of metal crashing down on the street. It is thought that the debris came from a construction site in the rooftop of a nearby building. The sheets fell just a couple of steps in front of the scooter. And that wasn’t the only near-disaster in Northern Taiwan. Over in New Taipei, several pieces of a building’s façade were ripped right off the wall and sent crashing down on the parked scooters below. Miraculously, nobody was in the area when it happened.

A scooter driver was cruising down the road, nothing amiss, when out of nowhere, huge sheets of metal came crashing down. One second later, and it could’ve been the end for the motorist. A heart-stopping fright for sure.

Local
Yangmei District
Terrifying! It might’ve been the typhoon. Maybe the metal sheets were old, and the wind ripped them off.

- They must have come from that building, I think.

The near-disaster happened on Zhongxing Road in Taoyuan’s Yangmei District. Construction was underway on the rooftop of a building in the area. It is thought the materials were not properly secured, and were blown loose by the strong winds. Thankfully, nobody was crushed by the metal.

- Maybe the strong wind blew them over. Or maybe they were hoisting them up.
- No, they did that on Thursday.
- They weren’t lifting them? There’s no crane here now.
- No, no. They finished the day before. Wednesday or Thursday.

And it’s not only metal falling from the sky. Over in New Taipei’s Xinzhuang District, three huge brick ornaments on a building’s façade were ripped off the wall and slammed onto several scooters parked below.

Voice of scooter owner
Scooter got damaged
I saw it when I was about to get on my scooter. Chunks of the façade came off and destroyed the headlights completely. The building management told me to leave my phone number, but they haven’t called me! Not yesterday nor today! They hadn’t even fenced the area off last night, and they let people keep walking past.

The crash site has since been cordoned off, and warnings have been put up. But the scooter owner says the most infuriating thing is the response from management. On a social media post he said, “It was just a scooter this time, but what if it had crushed someone?”

Voice of scooter owner
Scooter got damaged
It’s not the first time that the façade crumbled. If this is their attitude when a vehicle gets damaged, what would it be if a person got hurt?

Lee Yu-sheng
Lawyer
In the case that tiles or other items fall off the façade and damage someone’s property, the law presumes the committee to be negligent in its management duties if it cannot produce evidence that it fulfilled its maintenance responsibilities. And, if they failed to put up no-parking signs, the committee would be held civilly liable for compensation.

The scooter owner says he just hopes the building’s management will take the matter seriously in order to prevent a potential tragedy.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#finaldestination #scooter #wow #closecall #facade #maintenance

2026-07-13

Prosecutors raid companies involved in carcinogenic oil crisis

Prosecutors from the Taichung District Prosecutors Office on Thursday searched four companies involved in selling carcinogenic cooking oil, taking 13 people into custody and questioning them overnight. On Friday, the office determined that Yu Ling-chung, the general manager of Central Union Oil, which was the source of the contaminated soya bean oil with carcinogen benzo[a]pyrene at over four times the legal level, was heavily implicated. It has formally requested a court to detain him without bail, incommunicado.

Lee Yu-pei
Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office
After a comprehensive analysis of the seized evidence, prosecutors determined that all 11 defendants are suspected of serious offenses, including violations of the Act Governing Food Safety and Sanitation. Among them, the defendant surnamed Yu, general manager of Central Union Oil poses a risk of destroying or fabricating evidence, or colluding with accomplices and witnesses. Following interrogation, prosecutors applied to the court for his detention incommunicado.

Prosecutors stated that yesterday they conducted raids at six locations, searching four companies: Central Union Oil, Fopco, Fwusou and Taisun, seizing equipment, inspection reports, shipping documents and other evidence. Eleven individuals were named as defendants. Aside from Yu, the remaining 10 defendants, including the chairs of the four companies, were released on bail ranging from NT$500,000 to NT$20 million, depending on the severity of their involvement in the case.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#foodsafety #Taiwanfood #carcinogens #contaminatedfood #benzo(a)pyrene

2026-07-10

Driver in minor scrape caught with dead daughter passenger

A woman was caught driving with a dead passenger riding shotgun in her car thanks to a minor scrape with a parked scooter. At first, it all seemed like a minor traffic accident, but it all took a dark turn when witnesses smelled a foul odor emanating from the car, and noticed that the passenger was swollen and completely still. Emergency responders arrived and confirmed everyone’s suspicions: the passenger had died long before the collision. Let’s hear more.

Witness
Saw the dead person
Her mouth has hanging open, and her face was swollen. You could tell right away. It smelled like a decomposing body.

Witness
Saw the dead person
I didn’t dare get too close. I just took a peek. She was… lying there. The seat was reclined.

Tung Sheng-che
Police officer
The passenger, Ms. Chi, was clearly dead. Paramedics determined there was no need to take her to the hospital. The cause of death is under investigation.

Kao Ta-cheng
Forensic pathologist
She must have been dead for at least 30 minutes. She presented livor mortis, so it must have been more than 30 minutes, maybe even an hour, before she was loaded on the car.

The morbid scene took place on Zhonghe Road in Pingtung’s Xinyuan Township. The car driver was a 62-year-old woman, and the deceased passenger was her disabled daughter, aged 37. The two had set off on a trip from Taoyuan on July 1, joined by the driver’s elder sister. They stopped in Tainan, before heading to Kaohsiung on July 2 and finally making their way to Pingtung on July 9. They were allegedly heading to an outing at Donglong Temple when the disturbing situation was discovered.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#morbid #traffic #car #taitung #gothictaiwan

2026-07-10

Massive sinkhole causes gas leak Taipei’s busy Dunhua North Road

Another massive sinkhole has destroyed a road in downtown Taipei. At around 11:00 on Wednesday morning, an alley along Dunhua North Road in Songshan District caved in, leaving a 4-by-2-meter gap with a depth of 2 meters. What’s worse, the collapse caused underground gas pipes to break, resulting in a leak that alarmed local residents.

Authorities believe the most likely culprit is an urban renewal project along the road, which is managed by Formosa Plastics Group. Excavation work at the site may have loosened the soil and rocks under the ground before operators had time to backfill the gap. It also didn’t help that the area rests on a sandy layer that is prone to subsidence. The Construction Management Office has ordered construction to halt and will impose a maximum fine of NT$90,000 on the contractor and supervisor of the project.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#sinkhole #collapse #construction #taipei #urbanrenewal

2026-07-08

72-year-old woman alive after crash sets leaky scooter on fire

It was nothing short of a miracle when a 72-year-old scooter driver made a narrow escape from a traffic accident in New Taipei on Tuesday morning. The scooter crashed into a big truck that was making a right turn. It fell to the ground and caught fire within seconds, likely due to a punctured gas tank. People quickly came to the rescue and pulled the driver out of the blaze. The truck driver got out of the vehicle and put out the fire with an extinguisher. The scooter driver sustained burns on many parts of her body, but is fortunately alive.

The lorry is turning right at the light when… Bang! A scooter crashes straight into its side, sending the driver to the ground. Within seconds, the scooter is ablaze. What’s worse is that the driver, a woman in her 70s, is pinned under the vehicle inside the fireball.

A traffic warden and a volunteer rush to the rescue, while the truck driver himself runs over with a large extinguisher to put out the blaze. The foam and smoke engulf the entire road.

Hung Chiao-hsuan
FTV reporter
The accident took place at a main thoroughfare near a popular American retailer. This place is always busy with commuters and truck drivers, making it a crash hotspot.

Member of public
Concerned about crash
I often see accidents here. At rush hour, it’s always jam-packed, and everyone is in a time crunch. There’s tons of cars and motorbikes.

Member of public
Concerned about crash
If you’re driving a car, it could take you half an hour to get over here from the Oriental Science Park. You’re stuck in traffic for 20, 30 minutes.

The crash happened past 7 on Tuesday morning, at Xintaiwu Road in Xizhi District. Police believe the cause was failure to account for the turning radius of the truck, and the scooter’s location in a blind spot. As the truck driver, Mr. Su, turned right onto the highway, his vehicle collided with the scooter rider Ms. Wu, aged 72. The scooter’s fuel tank ruptured and caught fire as it scraped against the ground. Ms. Wu sustained burns on her face, torso and legs, but was conscious when rescued.

Chang Chih-wei
Police officer
Our staff rushed over to pull out the rider, who was trapped under the burning scooter.

Fortunately, thanks to everyone’s quick thinking, the fire was put out, and the driver made it out of the crash alive.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#traffic #scooter #fire #fuel #leak

2026-07-08

Coast Guard saves drowning bather with remote-controlled lifebuoy

On Monday late afternoon, the Coast Guard saved a drowning bather off the coast of Longfeng Fishing Port in Miaoli in minutes, all thanks to a high-tech device acquired in recent years. It took only three minutes to reach the victim, who was struggling to stay afloat, giving him something to grab on. Then, Coast Guard officers dragged him back onshore. The victim was conscious and was sent to hospital for treatment.

In the video, you can see someone carried by the waves. Meanwhile, another person onshore maneuvers a black object. What’s happening?

Turns out, he’s operating a remote-controlled power lifebuoy, which does not require rescuers to go out to sea. Within three minutes, the lifebuoy reached the victim, giving them something to hold on to.

Chen Wen-wei
Coast Guard
Normally, we operate it onshore if the target is visible with the naked eye, but it has a maximum range of about 100m.

While the victim grasps onto the lifebuoy, rescuers drag them back onshore.

Tsai Chong-ying
Coast Guard
We immediately deployed the power lifebuoy to rescue the individual who was drowning and reached him within three minutes. We then swiftly and safely transported him back onshore.

The Longfeng Inspection Office in Miaoli, under the Coast Guard’s Central Branch, was reported of the incident by a member of the public a little past 5 p.m. Monday. The caller said that someone was drowning off the coast of Longfeng Fishing Port, in the direction of the Lovers’ Bridge. The Coast Guard immediately rushed to the scene with the high-tech equipment, pulled the victim up and sent him to hospital on an ambulance.

Lin Tzu-chieh
Miaoli Fire Department
When we arrived on scene, Coast Guard officers had already rescued the patient from sea and assessed his level of consciousness. He was able to walk on his own. We kept him warm and gave him oxygen, then sent him to Weigong Hospital.

The victim is a 24-year-old man surnamed Chen. He and two other friends had gone out to sea, but he ended up drowning. He was conscious when rescuers pulled him back onshore, and sent to the hospital for treatment.

For more Taiwan news, tune in:
Mon to Fri at 9:30 pm on Channel 152
Tue to Sat at 1 am on Channel 53

#tech #devices #coastguard #lifeguard #lifebuoy

2026-07-07