Taipei, July 25 (CNA) President Chen Shui-bian apologized publicly over the Pachang Creek incident, which triggered a national outcry over the government's inability to rescue four workers trapped by a flash flood who waited in vain for a helicopter that never came.
President Chen said that he wants to extend his deepest apology "to the nation, the victims and their families" in a most "somber and sorrowful mood."
The president said that all people are just like "our family members," and that he shared the "same pain and sorrow" as the victims' relatives when he learned that government agencies had not been able to rescue the workers in time and prevent the tragedy from taking place.
President Chen said that when a disaster takes place, the new government will not try to pass the buck to others, but will instead take full responsibility.
President Chen made the public apology when he received a group of legislators from the Democratic Progressive Party at the Presidential Office.
President Chen said that a review of the tragic incident had revealed that the rescue operation mechanism is too rigid, and there is no systematic procedure for related rescue operations, so that precious time was lost before any action was taken, resulting in the irredeemable tragedy.
President Chen stressed the government will not pass the buck to others, but will assume full responsibility for the tragedy. He vowed the government will do everything possible to take care of the families of the four workers.
He reaffirmed that the new government will "view human lives as the first priority," and "will not tolerate outdated bureaucratic ways of thinking, and will not allow similar incidents to take place again."