A Taiwanese court has sentenced the organizer of a doomed water park party that killed 15 people to four years and ten months in jail.
Lu Chung-chi, owner of Colour Play Asia that organized a colour party at Formosa Fun Coast was charged after the inferno killed party goers in June. The colour party turned deadly when the coloured corn starch powder caught fire resulting in the disaster.
Lu was found guilty of negligence causing death and injury to hundreds of people.
Police inspected all the video footages of the party which showed people dancing and cheering in front of the stage when suddenly the explosion occurred. Investigation proved that the corn powder had come into contact with intensely hot stage lighting, resulting in this fire. The corn powder abruptly burst into flames and engulfed all of them into that hellfire.
Judge Kuo Hui-ling at Shihlin district court read the verdict and said that Lu had failed to take proper precautionary measures to prevent this and had not ensured whether the technicians were trained enough for that job.
After the final verdict, the court released a statement saying many of their "wonderful lives were about to start".
"Because of the explosion, 15 of them lost their lives and most of the survivors suffer tremendous physical and emotional pain and torment," the statement read, according to the AFP.
The verdict has angered grieving relatives who claimed that the sentence was too short.
In Taiwan, the charge of negligence leading to death and injury carries a maximum sentence of five years.
