Young woman is first to win compensation in Taiwan color party blast

The explosion of colored powder killed 15 and injured almost 500 partygoers at a New Taipei amusement park in 2015

The scene at the Formosa Fun Coast park after the June 27, 2015 explosion  The scene at the Formosa Fun Coast park after the June 27, 2015 explosion  (CNA photo)

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — Almost five years after sustaining injuries in a color party explosion which killed 15, a young woman has been awarded NT$7.17 million (US$239,000) in compensation, a court ruled Friday (May 29).

She was one of 484 partygoers who was injured in the blast, which occurred when colored corn starch powder was thrown over a crowd at the Formosa Fun Coast amusement park in Bali, New Taipei City, on June 27, 2015. Organizers of the event, which was supposed to imitate India’s Holi Festival, failed to tell staff that the powder was flammable, leading to its ignition by the heat of spotlights.

Lin Pei-ju (林沛茹), who was 17 at the time, was the first victim to have won a lawsuit for compensation, though she and her father had demanded NT$12.62 million and appeals were still possible, UDN reported Friday.

Lin had gradually recovered from the second- and third-degree burns which had covered 59 percent of her body. While the student was the first to win a case, a total of 18 similar compensation claims against the organizers were still working their way through the judicial system, according to UDN.