Father of recovering Taiwan water park fire victim commits suicide due to grief

Insurance investigators at the Formosa Fun Coast Water Park, where the fire on June 27 occurred. PHOTO: AFP

TAIPEI - The father of a recovering victim of last month's water park fire in Taiwan committed suicide on Saturday.

The Taipei Times reported that the 63-year-old man, surnamed Wang, had been struggling to deal with the grief over his second son's condition.

Speculation was that Wang took his life due to the stress at the sight of his son suffering more than 20 per cent burns on his body.

According to the police, Wang and his wife had visited their son at Chang Kung Memorial Hospital on Saturday morning.

Wang was subsequently reported missing, and his body was found by his eldest son in the family's old home, which was unoccupied.

He had apparently hung himself.

The hospital told the paper that it regretted Wang's death as his son's injuries were relatively minor and he was recovering well.

In the wake of the incident, the New Taipei City government has urged people to cherish their lives. It also encouraged the familes of victims who were having trouble coping to seek assistance with one the city's burn management centres.

The June 27 tragedy at the Formosa Fun Coast Water Park has so far claimed the lives of seven, with 370 still hospitalised.

A Singaporean victim, 18-year-old Megan Loy, was flown back to Singapore on June 30 and is receiving treatment at Singapore General Hospital.

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