One more patient has died in the recent food poisoning outbreak at the Xinyi
branch of Malaysian restaurant chain Polam Kopitiam in Taipei, bringing the
total number of deaths to three.

As of Friday, 35 people were reported to have fallen ill after dining at the
Xinyi restaurant from March 18-24, including two deaths reported in late
March.

The latest death was one of the four severe cases under intensive care.
Deputy Health Minister Victor Wang said today the patient died of multiple
organ failure despite having received treatment that utilized special
life-support treatment.

Taipei Medical University Hospital said that the patient was transferred to
the hospital on March 24 and died today.

Two deaths related to falling trees were reported in Taiwan on Friday as a
weather front brought heavy rain to most of the country.

In Changhua County, a 48-year-old postman surnamed Sun was pronounced dead on
being rushed to hospital, after being struck by a falling tree as he rode his
motorcycle on Section 1 of Zhangnan Road in Fenyuan Township.

In Kaohsiung, a 66-year-old man, identified by his last name Lee, was walking
alone in the Chengching Lake Scenic Area in Niaosong District at around 10
a.m. when he was struck on the head by a tree that fell onto the road.

Police said Lee sustained lacerations to the head and feet and was
immediately rushed to a nearby hospital, but later pronounced dead after
efforts to resuscitate him failed.

According to Taiwan Water Corp.'s 7th branch office, numerous recent
earthquakes combined with heavy rainfall in Kaohsiung since Thursday likely
loosened the soil and caused the tree to fall.

In order to ensure the safety of visitors and prevent further accidents,
officials say some trees in the Chengching Lake area, which was closed to
visitors starting at noon on Friday, will be cleared and trimmed.

The park is expected to reopen to the public on May 3.

Experts say that the magnitude 6.1 earthquake that struck off the coast of
eastern Taiwan early Saturday is an aftershock of the major Hualien
earthquake on April 3 that claimed at least 17 lives.

The quake, which struck at 2:21 a.m., was the largest aftershock since a
magnitude 6.3 earthquake rattled the eastern county early Tuesday.

Two more aftershocks of more than magnitude 4.5, with epicenters nearby,
followed the quake today within half an hour, including one of magnitude 5.8
that occurred at 2:49 a.m. Their epicenters were both located in Hualien
County's Xiulin Township.

Wu Chien-fu, director of the CWA's Seismological Center, said earthquakes of
larger scale tend to be followed by aftershocks over a longer period.

Citing the experience of the 921 Jiji earthquake in 1999 in central Taiwan,
Wu said aftershocks are expected to remain active for three to six months,
and earthquakes of magnitude 6 or above are likely to occur again.

So far, the CWA has observed no anomalies in terms of the aftershocks, Wu
added.

According to CWA data, Taiwan has experienced more than 1,300 aftershocks
since the Hualien earthquake, with six registering at least magnitude 6 and
63 between magnitudes 5-6.

The Taipei District Prosecutors Office have indicted 32 individuals,
including a prominent lawyer, as part of a cryptocurrency fraud case where
the defendants are accused of profiteering by almost NT$800 million (US$2.46
million) from defrauding victims.

Prosecution said a fraud investigation was launched into the chairman of ACE
Exchange, Wang Chen-huan, who was managing partner of the Taipei legal firm
Chien Yeh Law Offices after investors filed complaints.

The investors were allegedly deceived into purchasing low grade virtual
currencies which, according to prosecutors, have no practical applications
in the foreseeable future.

Prosecutors said Wang and associates David Pan and Lin Keng-hong penned fake
promotional materials in 2019 to launch ACE Exchange as well as ProEx
platforms to trade virtual currencies.

In addition, Pan and Lin are also believed to have established direct sales
teams to push the low grade cryptocurrencies through false internet
advertising to draw in prospective buyers.

Subsequent investigations revealed that Pan and Lin's organizations raked in
at least NT$2.2 billion from unknowing investors through the sale of
cryptocurrencies and blockchain products, making almost NT$800 million in
profit.

A magnitude 6.1 earthquake struck off the coast of eastern Taiwan's Hualien
County at 2:21 this morning, the biggest of 17 quakes recorded by
seismologists in Hualian County from midnight to noon today

Officials say the epicenter of the 6.1 quake was located at sea, about 23
kilometers north northeast of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 24.9 km.


Less than a half hour after that earthquake, a 5.8 magnitude quake also
struck the same general vicinity in Hualien County. There were no reports of
injury of damage.

Seismologists from Taiwan's Central Weather Administration say that the
earthquakes this morning were all aftershocks of the April 3, 7.2-magnitude
earthquake that killed 17 people.