The Ministry of Health and Welfare has activated its emergency response mechanism following the nation’s worst amusement park disaster, in which a fire broke out at New Taipei City’s Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸) water park on Saturday night, leaving nearly 500 people injured.
“The ministry has activated an emergency medical case management system to allow hospitals to report information and conditions of patients they have treated,” Department of Medical Affairs Director Wang Tsung-hsi (王宗曦) said yesterday.
Wang said the agency has also requested the health bureaus in Taipei, New Taipei City, Keelung and Taoyuan — as well as all hospitals, burn wards and intensive care units in these cities — to prepare for more people in need of treatment.
Photo: Sam Yeh-AFP
Due to the potential need for skin grafts, the ministry has collaborated with the Taiwan Organ Registry and Sharing Center, the Taiwan Society of Plastic Surgery and other organizations specializing in burns to transport skin donations from the nation’s south, Wang said.
Wang made the remarks one day after the incident occurred on the main stage of the park at approximately 8:30pm on Saturday, when colored corn starch powders exploded at the party.
According to ministry data, a total of 498 people injured during the accident were rushed to 43 different hospitals for emergency treatment.
Photo: Wang Min-wei, Taipei Times
Of those, 202 sustained severe injuries, 157 suffered moderate injuries and 79 were mildly burned, with 60 others treated, the data showed.
“As of 1pm [yesterday], 419 people remained hospitalized, including 184 in intensive care units,” the ministry said.
Taipei Veterans General Hospital said 22 of the 43 people it treated were still in critical condition as of press time last night.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
“Eleven of them have been intubated and three sustained burns over nearly 90 percent of their bodies,” hospital deputy superintendent Hwang Shinn-jang (黃信彰) said, adding that the next 72 hours would be critical.
New Taipei City Fire Department Deputy Director Chen Chung-yueh (陳崇岳) said that the fire department is investigating whether the blasts were caused by a spark from overheating equipment or by lights used at the party, but did not rule out people smoking as the cause of the fire and the ensuing explosions.
“A fire investigation team inspected the scene of the accident again this morning [yesterday]. The park used a drained swimming pool as the main area for the party and a total of 28 powder spray guns were installed around the stage,” Chen said.
Photo: Sam Yeh -AFP
Chen added that it was possible the powder exploded without a spark if it had reached a certain density.
The Shilin District Prosecutors’ Office has seized the powder spray equipment and other evidence in an effort to discover the cause of the incident.
Five individuals were questioned by police on Saturday night, including the event’s organizer, Lu Chung-chi (呂忠吉), equipment provider Chiu Po-ming (邱柏銘), special effects engineer Liao Chun-ming (廖俊明) and two other staff responsible for spraying the powder.
They were referred to the prosecutors’ office for further investigation yesterday morning on suspicion of gross negligence resulting in severe injury and offenses against public safety.
Separately yesterday, Premier Mao Chi-kuo (毛治國) said the Executive Yuan has banned the use of cornstarch powder at public events pending a safety evaluation and the drawing up of an act to govern the use of such substances.
“The Executive Yuan held an inter-ministerial meeting in the morning [yesterday] to discuss the handling of the accident and a task force has been established,” Mao said after visiting people injured by the blasts at National Taiwan University Hospital yesterday morning.
New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu (朱立倫) said he has ordered the park to close, while requesting government agencies to investigate the incident and mobilize all medical resources available to offer the best care and treatment possible.
Chu said compensation of NT$10,000 is to be offered to those severely injured and NT$5,000 to those who sustained less serious injuries, adding that he telephoned Taipei Mayor Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) — as well as the heads of Taipei’s and Taoyuan’s fire departments — after the accident to ask for their assistance.
“The park’s operations have been suspended while the government endeavors to determine the cause of the tragic event. There is no timetable for it being allowed to resume business,” Chu said on Saturday night.
ROLLER-COASTER RIDE: More than five earthquakes ranging from magnitude 4.4 to 5.5 on the Richter scale shook eastern Taiwan in rapid succession yesterday afternoon Back-to-back weather fronts are forecast to hit Taiwan this week, resulting in rain across the nation in the coming days, the Central Weather Administration said yesterday, as it also warned residents in mountainous regions to be wary of landslides and rockfalls. As the first front approached, sporadic rainfall began in central and northern parts of Taiwan yesterday, the agency said, adding that rain is forecast to intensify in those regions today, while brief showers would also affect other parts of the nation. A second weather system is forecast to arrive on Thursday, bringing additional rain to the whole nation until Sunday, it
LANDSLIDES POSSIBLE: The agency advised the public to avoid visiting mountainous regions due to more expected aftershocks and rainfall from a series of weather fronts A series of earthquakes over the past few days were likely aftershocks of the April 3 earthquake in Hualien County, with further aftershocks to be expected for up to a year, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Based on the nation’s experience after the quake on Sept. 21, 1999, more aftershocks are possible over the next six months to a year, the agency said. A total of 103 earthquakes of magnitude 4 on the local magnitude scale or higher hit Hualien County from 5:08pm on Monday to 10:27am yesterday, with 27 of them exceeding magnitude 5. They included two, of magnitude
CONDITIONAL: The PRC imposes secret requirements that the funding it provides cannot be spent in states with diplomatic relations with Taiwan, Emma Reilly said China has been bribing UN officials to obtain “special benefits” and to block funding from countries that have diplomatic ties with Taiwan, a former UN employee told the British House of Commons on Tuesday. At a House of Commons Foreign Affairs Committee hearing into “international relations within the multilateral system,” former Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) employee Emma Reilly said in a written statement that “Beijing paid bribes to the two successive Presidents of the [UN] General Assembly” during the two-year negotiation of the Sustainable Development Goals. Another way China exercises influence within the UN Secretariat is
Taiwan’s first drag queen to compete on the internationally acclaimed RuPaul’s Drag Race, Nymphia Wind (妮妃雅), was on Friday crowned the “Next Drag Superstar.” Dressed in a sparkling banana dress, Nymphia Wind swept onto the stage for the final, and stole the show. “Taiwan this is for you,” she said right after show host RuPaul announced her as the winner. “To those who feel like they don’t belong, just remember to live fearlessly and to live their truth,” she said on stage. One of the frontrunners for the past 15 episodes, the 28-year-old breezed through to the final after weeks of showcasing her unique