Shin Kong Group (新光集團) president Richard Wu (吳昕陽) yesterday said the company would take responsibility for an apparent gas explosion that resulted in four deaths and 26 injuries at Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang Store in Taichung yesterday.
The Taichung Fire Bureau at 11:33am yesterday received a report saying that people were injured after an explosion at the department store on Section 3 of Taiwan Boulevard in Taichung’s Situn District (西屯).
It sent 56 ambulances and 136 paramedics to the site, with the people injured sent to Cheng Ching Hospital’s Chung Kang Branch, Wuri Lin Shin Hospital, Taichung Veterans General Hospital or Chung Shan Medical University Hospital.
Photo courtesy of a Taichung resident
Fire Bureau Director-General Sun Fu-yu (孫福佑) said that the incident was allegedly caused by a gas explosion on the department store’s 12th floor.
Renovation work on the 12th floor was ongoing when the blast occurred, but whether it was the cause remains to be investigated, he said.
Wu arrived at the site and expressed concern to people who were affected, saying that Shin Kong Group would assist with the investigation and take accountability for providing compensation for the people who were injured.
Photo courtesy of a Taichung resident
The company’s leadership yesterday offered NT$1 million (US$30,486) in compensation to each of the families of the people killed, and visited 25 injured people in hospitals to provide consolation money.
Deputy Minister of Health and Welfare Lin Ching-yi (林靜儀) said that the ministry has asked the Taichung Health Bureau to activate the mechanism for multiple casualty incidents.
The ministry also asked the Regional Emergency Medical Operations Center’s Taichung Branch to assist with referral of patients, she said.
Photo: Liao Yao-tung, Taipei Times
The injured people would first be sent to emergency rooms with triage performed on them to divert them to suitable hospitals, Lin said, calling on the public not to rubberneck.
A family of seven from Macau passing by the department store was struck by falling debris from the building due to the explosion.
The debris killed the family’s grandparents and seriously injured the two-year-old granddaughter, with the rest of the family incurring lighter injuries.
Mainland Affairs Council spokesman Liang Wen-chieh (梁文傑) said the council’s Department of Hong Kong, Macau, Inner Mongolia and Tibetan Affairs has sent personnel to Taichung to learn more about the situation.
The council would report the incident to the Macanese government and take proactive measures to help the family, including assisting their relatives to travel to Taiwan if needed, he said.
The Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office said a task force of six prosecutors has been set up to collect evidence and conduct an investigation in collaboration with the police and the fire bureau.
Taichung Labor Affairs Bureau Director Chiu Yi-chuan (邱怡川) said the initial investigation was conducted based on witnesses’ testimony, as the department store’s 12th and nearby floors were still locked down.
The incident is suspected to be a dust explosion, given that fire sources such as welding activities were absent and there were no flames after the blast, he said.
The cause of the incident cannot be confirmed before the results of the fire bureau’s investigation, Chiu said, adding that the ministry would look into whether the construction site on the 12th floor had fire-proof and explosion-proof equipment.
An order to suspend the construction has been issued to the department store, he said.
The company undertaking the construction work would be fined between NT$30,000 and NT$300,000 if the site is found to have contravened the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法), he said.
Additional reporting by Lu Yun-feng, Tsai Shu-yuan
and Su Chin-feng
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS