By Cheng Shu-ting and Esme Yeh / Staff reporter, with staff writerThe Taoyuan District Court has ordered a 22-year-old man to pay about NT$400 million （US$12.6 million） in damages after he set fire to a hypermarket in Taoyuan two years ago.請繼續往下閱讀...The man, surnamed Kuo （郭）, went to the hypermarket along with two friends, surnamed Huang （黃） and Chou （周）, early on Dec. 3, 2023, said the ruling handed down on July 31.Kuo used a lighter to set fire to a bottle of insecticide spray in the cleaning supplies section on the first basement floor and put it back on the shelf, the ruling said.The three continued to shop in other sections of the hypermarket when the fire on the spray bottle ignited other pesticides and caused explosions, it said.The fire soon spread to other areas, and seriously damaged the wall and ceilings of the first and the first basement floors, it said.The severely damaged hypermarket had to suspend operations for about half a year.There were eight insurance companies seeking a total of more than NT$398.27 million in damages, and they have jointly filed a subrogation claim against Kuo.Kuo must pay more than NT$398.27 million in damages, the court ruled.As the fire also affected a nearby coffee shop, an insurance company filed another subrogation claim against Kuo to recover NT$979,326 in compensation. The court ordered Kuo pay the entire amount.Kuo was sentenced to six months in jail on conviction for arson that destroyed an occupied building.He did not attend his oral argument hearing, nor did he submit a written statement.The judge found the insurance companies’ claims to be substantiated after considering the evidence and investigation results.The ruling can be appealed.新聞來源：TAIPEI TIMES
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