The Kaohsiung District Prosecutors’ Office yesterday said it is waiting for the results of DNA tests to verify whether the two bodies discovered on Saturday night during culvert dredging at the site of the gas pipeline explosions in Greater Kaohsiung — conducted in preparation for the Tropical Storm Fong-Wong — were those of Greater Kaohsiung Government Fire Department Secretary-General Lin Chi-tse (林基澤) and section head Liu Yao-wen (劉耀文).
Lin and Liu were reported missing after the explosions that shook Greater Kaohsiung on July 31 and Aug. 1.
Lin and Liu were scouting the intersection of Kaisyuan and Ersheng roads, just seconds before a blast took place.
Photo: Hung Ting-hung, Taipei Times
Greater Kaohsiung Fire Bureau Director Chen Hung-lung (陳虹龍) yesterday said the pair were believed to be standing on an uncharted culvert, when escaping propene is thought to have triggered the pipeline explosions and hurled them into the drains.
Judging from the bodies, the two might have been pinned down by falling debris from their waists up, with their legs overlapping, he added.
The bodies were found just outside the culvert.
According to Chen, Kaisyuan Road was flooded with rainwater shortly after the blasts, which prevented rescue dogs from locating the missing men. Since the uncharted culvert is to be investigated by the authorities working to determine responsibility for the accident, excavation has been limited to sifting gravel to prevent the culvert from being damaged.
It was not until dredging was ordered on Saturday in preparation for the approach of Fung-Wong that the bodies were finally discovered, he said.
District prosecutors and forensic investigators yesterday morning identified the bodies as the missing firefighters from testimonials by family members, as well as the watches, uniforms, and transceivers found on the scene, but a request for DNA tests filed with the prosecutors’ office is still yet to be delivered. The results of the postmortem will be announced within days, the office said.
A female worker surnamed Lin (林), who came across Liu’s body, said she dug out a leg wrapped in a firefighter’s uniform and was initially terrified.
“I told myself not to panic, that I would bring good karma upon myself for the good deed,” she said.
The other body, thought to be Lin Chi-tse’s, had a watch around the wrist bone, which was not destroyed by the explosions because it was buried under debris.
Lin Chi-tse’s daughter yesterday confirmed that the watch belonged to her father.
Meanwhile, Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu (陳菊) in a Facebook post yesterday said: “Two bodies were found on the reconstruction site and have been identified as Kaohsiung City Government Fire Department Secretary-General Lin Chi-tse and section head Liu Yao-wen. We hope that the discovery will provide some comfort to their family members. May their valiant souls protect Greater Kaohsiung in this stormy night.”
Additional reporting by Huang Chia-lin
Travel agencies in Taiwan are working to secure alternative flights for travelers bound for New Zealand for the Lunar New Year holiday, as Air New Zealand workers are set to strike next week. The airline said that it has confirmed that the planned industrial action by its international wide-body cabin crew would go ahead on Thursday and Friday next week. While the Auckland-based carrier pledged to take reasonable measures to mitigate the impact of the workers’ strike, an Air New Zealand flight arriving at Taipei from Auckland on Thursday and another flight departing from Taipei for Auckland on Saturday would have to
The Taipei City Government yesterday confirmed that it has negotiated a royalties of NT$12.2 billion (US$380 million) with artificial intelligence (AI) chip giant Nvidia Corp, with the earliest possible signing date set for Wednesday next week. The city has been preparing for Nvidia to build its Taiwan headquarters in Beitou-Shilin Technology Park since last year, and the project has now entered its final stage before the contract is signed. Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) said the city government has completed the royalty price negotiations and would now push through the remaining procedures to sign the contract before
Taipei Zoo welcomes the Lunar New Year this year through its efforts to protect an endangered species of horse native to central Asia that was once fully extinct outside of captivity. The festival ushering in the Year of the Horse would draw attention to the zoo’s four specimens of Przewalski’s horse, named for a Russian geographer who first encountered them in the late 19th century across the steppes of western Mongolia. “Visitors will look at the horses and think that since this is the Year of the Horse: ‘I want to get to know horses,’” said zookeeper Chen Yun-chieh, who has been
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Thursday said the name of the Taiwanese Representative Office in Lithuania was agreed by both sides, after Lithuania’s prime minister described a 2021 decision to let Taiwan set up a de facto embassy in Vilnius as a “mistake.” Lithuanian Prime Minister Inga Ruginiene, who entered office in September last year, told the Baltic News Service on Tuesday that Lithuania had begun taking “small first steps” aimed at restoring ties with Beijing. The ministry in a statement said that Taiwan and Lithuania are important partners that share the values of freedom and democracy. Since the establishment of the
RSS