The fire that turned a June 27 concert at the Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸) water park into the nation’s deadliest amusement park disaster was caused by colored cornstarch being ignited by stage lights, an official report said this week.
The cornstarch that had been sprayed over hundreds of partygoers at a Color Play Asia event exploded when it came into contact with the lights, whose surface temperatures reached more than 400°C, the report by the New Taipei City Fire Department said.
In the report, a special investigation taskforce said a careful assessment of the evidence and repeated experiments had shown that the heat given off by 200-watt incandescent bulbs in a row of portable “Beam 200” moving-head stage lights ignited the cornstarch, sparking the deadly blaze.
Photo: Wang Yi-sung, Taipei Times
The lights had been placed on the right-hand side of the stage near the front.
The taskforce, which included fire department officials and forensic scientists from the Criminal Investigation Bureau, concluded that the staff working the Color Play Asia event had created a dense aerial concentration of colored cornstarch, using air blowers and compressed gas canisters, of more than 45g/m3.
The taskforce’s experiments discovered that running the “Beam 200” lights for several hours raises their interior heat to 1,000°C, while their surface temperature reached more than 400°C.
The colored cornstarch used at the event burns at 430°C, the taskforce said.
Enough of the powder came into contact with the heated lights that it ignited, while the airflow allowed the flame to billow, making it appear as if there had been a massive explosion, the report said.
The taskforce said it had initially focused on three possible causes for the fire: electrostatic, an open fire source such as a cigarette or lighter, or heat from electrical devices.
Investigators said they conducted a number of experiments to eliminate the possibility that a burning cigarette or lighter flame could have sparked the fire, with neither able to reach a high enough temperature to ignite cornstarch.
Meteorological data from the day showed that humidity levels were high enough to discount electrostatic charges as a cause, they said.
As part of their investigation, the taskforce summoned the supplier of the “Beam 200” lights, the technical crew and other workers at the event for questioning to determine the electrical circuit layout and operation of the stage lights.
A total of 508 people were injured in the fire, 11 of whom have since died. As of yesterday, 208 were still hospitalized, 42 of whom were listed in critical condition and 78 in intensive care.
Three defendants have been released on bail as prosecutors investigate them on charges of offences against public safety and negligence causing deaths.
Six others are being investigated, including the chairman and the president of the water park.
LONG FLIGHT: The jets would be flown by US pilots, with Taiwanese copilots in the two-seat F-16D variant to help familiarize them with the aircraft, the source said The US is expected to fly 10 Lockheed Martin F-16C/D Block 70/72 jets to Taiwan over the coming months to fulfill a long-awaited order of 66 aircraft, a defense official said yesterday. Word that the first batch of the jets would be delivered soon was welcome news to Taiwan, which has become concerned about delays in the delivery of US arms amid rising military tensions with China. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the initial tranche of the nation’s F-16s are rolling off assembly lines in the US and would be flown under their own power to Taiwan by way
OBJECTS AT SEA: Satellites with synthetic-aperture radar could aid in the detection of small Chinese boats attempting to illegally enter Taiwan, the space agency head said Taiwan aims to send the nation’s first low Earth orbit (LEO) satellite into space in 2027, while the first Formosat-8 and Formosat-9 spacecraft are to be launched in October and 2028 respectively, the National Science and Technology Council said yesterday. The council laid out its space development plan in a report reviewed by members of the legislature’s Education and Culture Committee. Six LEO satellites would be produced in the initial phase, with the first one, the B5G-1A, scheduled to be launched in 2027, the council said in the report. Regarding the second satellite, the B5G-1B, the government plans to work with private contractors
‘NARWHAL’: The indigenous submarine completed its harbor acceptance test recently and is now under heavy guard as it undergoes tests in open waters, a source said The Hai Kun (海鯤), the nation’s first indigenous defense submarine, yesterday began sea trials, sailing out of the Port of Kaohsiung, a military source said. Also known as the “Narwhal,” the vessel departed from CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard at about 8am, where it had been docked. More than 10 technicians and military personnel were on deck, with several others standing atop the sail. After recently completing its harbor acceptance test, the vessel has started a series of sea-based trials, including tests of its propulsion and navigational systems, while partially surfaced, the source said. The Hai Kun underwent tests in the port from
New Taipei City prosecutors yesterday indicted nine entertainers over their alleged connection to a fraud ring that produces falsified documents to help people evade military service, including actor Darren Wang (王大陸) and show host William Liao (廖威廉). Twenty-eight people were charged with contravening the Punishment for Violation of Military Service System Act (妨害兵役治罪條例) and Article 214 of the Criminal Code for “causing a public official to make a false entry in a public document.” Prosecutors alleged the fraud ring was ran by a man, Chen Chih-ming (陳志明), and his three assistants, and that they were paid to help people dodge compulsory