A power outage at the National Palace Museum in Taipei yesterday afternoon saw the evacuation of visitors from the premises, the disruption of a party and security concerns for the cultural treasures on display.
The blackout, which lasted from about 1:30pm to 4:25pm, hit as many government officials and guests gathered for a gala celebrating the museum’s 90th anniversary, which was due to start when the lights went out.
With the outage, the museum’s main lobby, display halls and reception areas were darkened, while air conditioning and other electrical equipment were also affected.
Photo: CNA
Museum staff moved visitors out of exhibition halls.
According to Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) officials, the outage was due to an explosion at a nearby transformer and work crews were dispatched immediately to make repairs.
Museum Chief Secretary Yang Hsiu-chuan (楊秀娟) said strong winds had caused a roadside tree to fall onto a power line, causing the explosion.
However, this was not verified by Taipower officials.
Many of museum’s exhibition halls and stairwells were in darkness, while some areas were partially illuminated by the emergency lighting system.
Museum Deputy Director Ho Chuan-hsing (何傳馨) told reporters that an emergency power system was activated, allowing display areas to operate normally.
However, visitors and journalists said there were chaotic scenes, with people inside the main building being led out of darkened halls to the reception area, while tour groups continued to enter as tickets were still being sold.
A female visitor said it was hot on the first and second floors, as air conditioning was not working, while people were milling about and appeared confused about the situation.
“This is supposed to be one of the top museums in the world and a popular tourist attraction, but there has been no electricity for more than an hour now,” she said. “This is outrageous. It was hot and disorderly inside.”
“The government has a large budget for the museum to operate, but it is completely unable to deal with an event like this,” she said.
She added that there were concerns that people might take advantage of the darkness to vandalize or steal display items.
A tour guide surnamed Chien (簡) said she arrived at the museum with a group of 32 Japanese visitors at about 2pm.
“Nobody knew when power would be restored, but the museum was still selling tickets,” Chien said. “The tourists were quite surprised at what was happening.”
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