A fire and subsequent explosions at a golf ball factory at Pingtung Technology Industrial Park (屏東科技產業園區) killed at least seven people, including four firefighters, and injured 98, while three were still missing, authorities said yesterday.
The blaze at Launch Technologies Co’s (明揚國際) plant on Jingjian Road raged for more than 12 hours after it started at about 5pm on Friday, officials said.
The Pingtung County Fire Bureau early yesterday used large excavators to search for missing people, while family members waited at the scene.
Photo courtesy of Pingtung County Government
Pingtung County Fire Bureau Director Hsu Mei-hsueh (許美雪) said the bureau received a call about the fire at 5:31pm on Friday, and firefighters arrived at the location 13 minutes later, adding that the factory owner provided information about hazardous materials stored on site.
Chen Wen-chuan (陳文川), head of the fire bureau’s second squad, reported a chemical leak at 5:57pm, and two minutes later a team of 11 firefighters entered the premises, Hsu said.
They encountered increasingly dense smoke and made less than 10m of progress when the group leader ordered them to retreat, but an explosion occurred before they could get out, she said.
Photo: Lee Hui-chou, Taipei Times
The detonation engulfed the entry team, trapping firefighters Lai Chun-ju (賴俊儒), Chen Po-han (陳柏翰), Chung Chi-yuan (鍾吉垣) and Shih Pao-hsiung (施寶翔) in the debris, she said, adding that contact with them was lost immediately.
Firefighters did not have time to deploy portable extinguishers and water was not used out of fear that it could react with combustible gases at the site, Hsu said in reference to earlier reports that explosions were triggered by water from firefighters.
The bureau added that the explosions caused a section of the factory to collapse, trapping several people beneath the rubble.
Photo: CNA
Lai was extricated and sent to a hospital on Friday evening, but could not be revived, Hsu said, adding that he was the first of the fire’s confirmed deaths.
Rescuers early yesterday found the bodies of the remaining firefighters and three factory employees, surnamed Lin (林), Chiu (邱) and Chu (朱), she said.
An official with the county fire department said that peroxide stored inside the factory could have been the cause of a large and several smaller explosions.
Photo: Hsu Chuo-hsun, Taipei Times
The cause of the fire and explosions remain under investigation, but authorities said they suspect natural gas might have played a part.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) yesterday visited the scene and expressed her condolences to the victims’ families.
“I want to thank everyone for their hard work and please stay safe,” Tsai told emergency response personnel.
She also visited a morgue to pay respects to the victims and visited those injured in the fire at a hospital.
Pingtung County Commissioner Chou Chun-mi (周春米) visited a funeral home and met with family members of the victims.
“Facing the grief of the family members, I could not say anything except to bow deeply, apologize and express my deepest condolences,” Chou wrote on Facebook.
The presidential candidates from the Democratic Progressive Party, the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) and the Taiwan People’s Party all announced that they had suspended campaigning, while independent presidential contender Terry Gou’s (郭台銘) team also said they had halted campaigning yesterday.
Friday’s fire was Taiwan’s most lethal blaze since 2018, when a fire at a Chin-Poon Industrial Co (敬鵬工業) factory killed six firefighters and two Thai workers.
Additional reporting by Tsai Tsung-hsien
CALL FOR SUPPORT: President William Lai called on lawmakers across party lines to ensure the livelihood of Taiwanese and that national security is protected President William Lai (賴清德) yesterday called for bipartisan support for Taiwan’s investment in self-defense capabilities at the christening and launch of two coast guard vessels at CSBC Corp, Taiwan’s (台灣國際造船) shipyard in Kaohsiung. The Taipei (台北) is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels, and the Siraya (西拉雅) is the Coast Guard Administration’s (CGA) first-ever ocean patrol vessel, the government said. The Taipei is the fourth and final ship of the Chiayi-class offshore patrol vessels with a displacement of about 4,000 tonnes, Lai said. This ship class was ordered as a result of former president Tsai Ing-wen’s (蔡英文) 2018
UKRAINE, NVIDIA: The US leader said the subject of Russia’s war had come up ‘very strongly,’ while Jenson Huang was hoping that the conversation was good Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) and US President Donald Trump had differing takes following their meeting in Busan, South Korea, yesterday. Xi said that the two sides should complete follow-up work as soon as possible to deliver tangible results that would provide “peace of mind” to China, the US and the rest of the world, while Trump hailed the “great success” of the talks. The two discussed trade, including a deal to reduce tariffs slapped on China for its role in the fentanyl trade, as well as cooperation in ending the war in Ukraine, among other issues, but they did not mention
HOTEL HIRING: An official said that hoteliers could begin hiring migrant workers next year, but must adhere to a rule requiring a NT$2,000 salary hike for Taiwanese The government is to allow the hospitality industry to recruit mid-level migrant workers for housekeeping and three other lines of work after the Executive Yuan yesterday approved a proposal by the Ministry of Labor. A shortage of workers at hotels and accommodation facilities was discussed at a meeting of the legislature’s Transportation Committee. A 2023 survey conducted by the Tourism Administration found that Taiwan’s lodging industry was short of about 6,600 housekeeping and cleaning workers, the agency said in a report to the committee. The shortage of workers in the industry is being studied, the report said. Hotel and Lodging Division Deputy Director Cheng
‘SECRETS’: While saying China would not attack during his presidency, Donald Trump declined to say how Washington would respond if Beijing were to take military action US President Donald Trump said that China would not take military action against Taiwan while he is president, as the Chinese leaders “know the consequences.” Trump made the statement during an interview on CBS’ 60 Minutes program that aired on Sunday, a few days after his meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) in South Korea. “He [Xi] has openly said, and his people have openly said at meetings, ‘we would never do anything while President Trump is president,’ because they know the consequences,” Trump said in the interview. However, he repeatedly declined to say exactly how Washington would respond in
RSS