DECADE ON: The Taiwan High Court has ordered that NT$35.5 million be paid to 15 people, who received a retrial as their homes were in a ‘potential landslide zone’

Taipei Times
Date: Mar 28, 2019
By: Jason Pan  /  Staff reporter

The Taiwan High Court’s Kaohsiung branch yesterday ruled that 15 residents of Kaohsiung’s Siaolin Village (小林) are to receive state compensation for damage inflicted on their village in 2009 due to Typhoon Morakot, when heavy rain caused a landslide that buried most of the village and killed more than 400 residents.

The judges overturned the first and second rulings, and ordered the Kaohsiung City Government to pay NT$35.5 million (US$1.15 million) in compensation to the 15 residents, who are each to receive between NT$1.5 million and NT$3 million.

The Supreme Court in a final verdict on June 8, 2017, rejected an appeal for financial compensation from 123 survivors.

In that ruling, the judges ordered a retrial at the Taiwan High Court for 15 residents whose homes were within the “potential landslide zone” as determined by the then-Kaohsiung county government.    [FULL  STORY]