The National Fire Agency (NFA) yesterday vowed to reinforce the management of incense shops and publicize their locations to reassure the public after Friday’s deadly explosion in front of a New Taipei City (新北市) incense shop.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Legislator Wu Yu-sheng (吳育昇) told a press conference that the agency must investigate any irregularities in the manufacture, storage and delivery of fireworks and review its enforcement of the Firework and Firecracker Management Act (爆竹煙火管理條例).
KMT Legislator Justin Chou (周守訓) asked the agency to find all illegal fireworks storage sites in a week and to establish a notification mechanism so people can report possible irregularities to the police.
National Fire Agency Deputy Director-General Chen Wen-lung (陳文龍) said the agency would publicize fireworks manufacturing or storage sites nationwide, and encourage the public to report irregularities to their borough chiefs and local police precincts.
By law, fireworks should not be manufactured or stored in residential areas or mixed residential and commercial districts, Chen said.
There are three legal manufacturers of high-altitude fireworks in the country — two in Chiayi County and one in Miaoli County — which have a total of 33 storage facilities and 19 factories producing ordinary fireworks that are stored in 220 sites, Chen said.
Police are continuing their investigation into Friday’s blast in Wugu District (五股) that killed four people, including the incense shop’s owner, and injured 38. They are trying to determine if the shop owner, Chen Chiu-lung (陳邱隆), had ordered the fireworks, or whether a Taoyuan County fireworks firm had asked him to store the fireworks to evade inspections.
The owner of the 40-year-old fireworks company, surnamed Cheng (鄭), was released on NT$50,000 bail after being questioned by New Taipei City prosecutors.
Police said Cheng and Chen Chiu-lung were close friends and that Chen Chiu-lung would often be asked to help when Cheng’s company landed major contracts, such as setting up fireworks displays for Double Ten National Day or the Taipei International Flora Expo.
Police said the company was told to cease operations following a blast earlier this month, but it still had a large stockpile of fireworks.
Cheng said that he received a call from Chen Chiu-lung last Friday saying he needed fireworks for a big event and so his company agreed to supply them. However, Chen Chiu-lung’s brother said he overheard the conversation and that Cheng had actually asked his brother to help transport and stockpile fireworks so Cheng’s firm could evade safety inspections.
The brother also said Chen Chiu-lung had rented a container in Taishan (泰山), New Taipei City, to store fireworks and had enough to handle an event without having to ask Cheng for more.
Additional reporting by CNA
Alain Robert, known as the "French Spider-Man," praised Alex Honnold as exceptionally well-prepared after the US climber completed a free solo ascent of Taipei 101 yesterday. Robert said Honnold's ascent of the 508m-tall skyscraper in just more than one-and-a-half hours without using safety ropes or equipment was a remarkable achievement. "This is my life," he said in an interview conducted in French, adding that he liked the feeling of being "on the edge of danger." The 63-year-old Frenchman climbed Taipei 101 using ropes in December 2004, taking about four hours to reach the top. On a one-to-10 scale of difficulty, Robert said Taipei 101
Nipah virus infection is to be officially listed as a category 5 notifiable infectious disease in Taiwan in March, while clinical treatment guidelines are being formulated, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) said yesterday. With Nipah infections being reported in other countries and considering its relatively high fatality rate, the centers on Jan. 16 announced that it would be listed as a notifiable infectious disease to bolster the nation’s systematic early warning system and increase public awareness, the CDC said. Bangladesh reported four fatal cases last year in separate districts, with three linked to raw date palm sap consumption, CDC Epidemic Intelligence
Two Taiwanese prosecutors were questioned by Chinese security personnel at their hotel during a trip to China’s Henan Province this month, the Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) said yesterday. The officers had personal information on the prosecutors, including “when they were assigned to their posts, their work locations and job titles,” MAC Deputy Minister and spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said. On top of asking about their agencies and positions, the officers also questioned the prosecutors about the Cross-Strait Joint Crime-Fighting and Judicial Mutual Assistance Agreement, a pact that serves as the framework for Taiwan-China cooperation on combating crime and providing judicial assistance, Liang
US climber Alex Honnold left Taiwan this morning a day after completing a free-solo ascent of Taipei 101, a feat that drew cheers from onlookers and gained widespread international attention. Honnold yesterday scaled the 101-story skyscraper without a rope or safety harness. The climb — the highest urban free-solo ascent ever attempted — took just more than 90 minutes and was streamed live on Netflix. It was covered by major international news outlets including CNN, the New York Times, the Guardian and the Wall Street Journal. As Honnold prepared to leave Taiwan today, he attracted a crowd when he and his wife, Sanni,
RSS