Wedding Day Toasts Turn Fatal for Drunk Groom

A newly married man died abruptly on his wedding day over the weekend after having had too much red wine and beer at his wedding banquet, police said Monday.

The 35-year-old groom, identified only by his surname Wu, passed out at home after returning from the banquet held at a Taipei restaurant last Saturday, according to police.

Wu, an insurance company employee, threw up and his face turned black, and his bride dialed 119 for emergency help after finding him lying unconscious on a sofa shortly after returning to their apartment, police said.

Rescue workers with the Taipei City Fire Department's Neihu branch were quoted as saying that the groom showed no vital signs when they arrived at the newlyweds' apartment in Neihu district.

After finding that the man's respiratory system was not blocked, they applied an electric shock to try and restore his heartbeat and gave him oxygen before rushing him to a nearby hospital. All efforts to revive him, however, were unsuccessful.

Classmates of the groom who attended the banquest estimated he drank about one and a half bottles of red wine and several glasses of beer.

An initial examination by a forensic expert found that the groom had an extremely high blood alcohol content, and the medical examiner concluded that the groom died of sudden cardiac disease triggered by his drinking.

The bride told police that the groom did not normally drink alcoholic beverages.

According to media reports, the groom had asthma and nose allergies and had not slept much in recent weeks because he was busy preparing for the wedding.

Many of his classmates were caught off guard by the news of Wu's death.

"Everyone was having a great time...It's sad to learn of this tragedy," said one of his classmates.

Lin Chien-liang, director of the clinical toxicology department at Chang Gung Memorial Hospital's Linkou branch in Taipei County, said excess drinking could lead to sudden death, particularly for those who do not drink regularly, because they tend to be vulnerable to acute alcohol intoxication.

According to Lin, individuals are being hit by cardiovascular disease at increasingly younger ages, and people in their 30s are not immune to heart attacks. He reminded young people not to drink when they are excessively tired.

Yao Ben-jen, a lawyer, said the groom's classmates and friends could not be held legally liable for his death even if they had "insistently" asked the groom to drink because they had no way of knowing his physical condition.

"We can only say it's a tragedy," Yao said regretfully.