Two people died from burns at the Ministry of National Defense (MND) Reserve Command building in Taipei after a fire broke out in the basement at around 9:30pm on Thursday evening.
A further four suffered burns or smoke inhalation and received medical treatment.
The incident took place when workers were called in on Thursday evening to repair an air conditioner in the basement of the ministry’s Reserve Command building.
According to defense officials, an explosion occurred when workers were replenishing the freon coolant for the air conditioner’s compressor.
Four people, including three civilian repairmen and a staff sergeant, were present when the explosion and the subsequent fire broke out.
The two fatalities sustained about 80 percent to 90 percent burns to their body, and the pair, including one repairman and a staff sergeant surnamed Lin (林), were later pronounced dead in hospital.
The two other workers present are being treated for injuries and are reported to be in good condition.
Additionally, a major and a private surnamed Tsai (蔡), both of whom were in third-floor offices, were treated for injuries from smoke inhalation.
The MND compound is in the high-security Po-Ai Special District (博愛特區) in Taipei, with its cluster of important government bureaus, the Presidential Office Building and housing for top officials.
As the blaze quickly spread from the basement to top floors, smoke was seen emanating from various points in the building and over 300 military staff and officers were evacuated from the complex. A total of 19 fire engines and four ambulances arrived, after the military department’s own small firefighting unit was unable to contain the fire.
According to a veteran air conditioning repairman, the explosion likely occurred due to human error.
“[This kind of accident] usually happens due to workers taking up the wrong gas. Most of the time the mistake is in using oxygen, instead of freon gas. If it was oxygen, this would cause the air conditioner compressor to explode,” he said.
The firefighting department’s investigation unit is carrying out a probe into the cause of the explosion and blaze.
An increase in Taiwanese boats using China-made automatic identification systems (AIS) could confuse coast guards patrolling waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast and become a loophole in the national security system, sources familiar with the matter said yesterday. Taiwan ADIZ, a Facebook page created by enthusiasts who monitor Chinese military activities in airspace and waters off Taiwan’s southwest coast, on Saturday identified what seemed to be a Chinese cargo container ship near Penghu County. The Coast Guard Administration went to the location after receiving the tip and found that it was a Taiwanese yacht, which had a Chinese AIS installed. Similar instances had also
GOOD DIPLOMACY: The KMT has maintained close contact with representative offices in Taiwan and had extended an invitation to Russia as well, the KMT said The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) would “appropriately handle” the fallout from an invitation it had extended to Russia’s representative to Taipei to attend its international banquet last month, KMT Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫) said yesterday. US and EU representatives in Taiwan boycotted the event, and only later agreed to attend after the KMT rescinded its invitation to the Russian representative. The KMT has maintained long-term close contact with all representative offices and embassies in Taiwan, and had extended the invitation as a practice of good diplomacy, Chu said. “Some EU countries have expressed their opinions of Russia, and the KMT respects that,” he
VIGILANCE: The military is paying close attention to actions that might damage peace and stability in the region, the deputy minister of national defense said The People’s Republic of China (PRC) might consider initiating a hack on Taiwanese networks on May 20, the day of the inauguration ceremony of president-elect William Lai (賴清德), sources familiar with cross-strait issues said. While US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken’s statement of the US expectation “that all sides will conduct themselves with restraint and prudence in the period ahead” would prevent military actions by China, Beijing could still try to sabotage Taiwan’s inauguration ceremony, the source said. China might gain access to the video screens outside of the Presidential Office Building and display embarrassing messages from Beijing, such as congratulating Lai
Four China Coast Guard ships briefly sailed through prohibited waters near Kinmen County, Taipei said, urging Beijing to stop actions that endanger navigation safety. The Chinese ships entered waters south of Kinmen, 5km from the Chinese city of Xiamen, at about 3:30pm on Monday, the Coast Guard Administration said in a statement later the same day. The ships “sailed out of our prohibited and restricted waters” about an hour later, the agency said, urging Beijing to immediately stop “behavior that endangers navigation safety.” Ministry of National Defense spokesman Sun Li-fang (孫立方) yesterday told reporters that Taiwan would boost support to the Coast Guard