Taipei bar owner, manager indicted over drinking contest death

Taipei, Sept. 17 (CNA) The Taipei District Prosecutors Office on Wednesday indicted the owner and the manager of a nightclub in Taipei on charges of negligent homicide after a man died from acute alcohol intoxication during a drinking contest last year.

In its indictment, the office said the club owner, surnamed Tseng (曾), and the manager, surnamed Chen (陳), face charges in connection with the death of an engineer, surnamed Chang (張), who took part in a drinking event at the nightclub inside the ATT 4 Fun building in Xinyi District at around 12:30 a.m. on Sept. 8, 2024.

Prosecutors said Chang consumed a one-liter vodka and passion fruit cocktail called "One Liter of Tears" in just one minute and 10 seconds during the contest.

He soon felt unwell, left the event and entered a restroom in the building's second basement parking area, where a security guard found him dead around 7 a.m. that morning, prosecutors said.

They allege Tseng and Chen organized the promotion, which required participants to finish the drink within eight minutes in order to reclaim a NT$500 (US$16.64) deposit.

The district prosecutors office noted that the Tobacco and Alcohol Administration Act bans alcohol advertising or promotions that encourage drinking, and that the Regulations Governing the Labeling of Alcohol Products require warning statements such as: "Large quantity intake of alcohol product [SIC] in a short period of time is lethal."

Prosecutors stated that Tseng and Chen knew short-term heavy drinking could lead to fatal alcohol poisoning, but still held the contest in an attempt to make a profit.

They allege Tseng and Chen were obliged to warn contestants about the risks of drunkenness or alcohol poisoning, to display cautionary signs and to prepare emergency measures, but they failed to do so, resulting in Chang's death.