The two-year old Macao girl who was caught up in last month’s Taichung department store explosion succumbed to her traumatic head injuries at the Conde de São Januário Hospital last Friday, the Health Bureau said in a statement issued this morning.
The department said its announcement was made with the consent of the girl’s family and expressed “deep grief” over the toddler’s passing.
It also extended its condolences to the girl’s family, noting that it was already providing them with counselling and would follow-up with their needs.
On 13 February, at around 11:30 am, the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi store in Taichung – the second largest city in Taiwan – suddenly exploded from what investigators suspect to be a gas leak, resulting in five deaths (including that of the girl) and over thirty injuries.
At the time of the incident, the girl was with six of her other Macao family members, who were passing by the store on street level. The debris and concrete thrown out onto the street from the explosion resulted in her sustaining severe head injuries.
Shortly after the blast, the girl and her mother were rushed to the closest hospital, Cheng Ching Hospital, by a passerby. The girl was later transferred to the intensive care unit of the China Medical University Hospital, where she underwent brain surgery and remained in a critical condition.
[See more: Food court renovation a possible cause of Taichung blast]
Doctors advised against the comatose girl being immediately transported back to Macao, but she was transferred to the SAR on 26 February via a medical charter flight, where she received further treatment in the ICU unit of the Conde de São Januário Hospital.
Two other members of the child’s family also died from the explosion, including her 56-year old grandfather who was killed immediately at the scene of the blast. Her 58-year old grandmother was pronounced dead after being sent to the Cheng Ching Hospital.
A funeral ceremony was held in Taiwan for the two grandparents on 20 February, with the family taking their ashes back to Macao on the same flight that transported the girl.
The child’s 85-year old great-grandmother and 24-year old uncle also sustained injuries.
Investigation on the exact cause of the tragedy is still ongoing, although the Taichung fire department said it would submit its report into the explosion by the end of this month.
Some 33 people have also been questioned over the incident, with the Taichung District Prosecutors Office recently telling Taiwanese media that it had yet to determine the individuals responsible.
