Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Chairperson Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and Deputy Legislative Speaker Hung Hsiu-chu (洪秀柱) yesterday called for the nation to give aid and to pray for those who were injured during Saturday night’s fire at Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸), a water park in New Taipei City’s Bali District (八里).
The fire broke out during a “Color Play Asia” party in which the event organizers sprayed large amounts of colored powder from compressed carbon dioxide tanks over the dance floor in front of the main stage at the park.
The powder ignited, injuring 498 partygoers and leaving 202 in serious condition with major burns, the Ministry of Health and Welfare said.
Tsai said in a news release that the DPP would ask its joint county and city governance unit to look into security for large events that the respective local governments hold.
“We hope that all such events abide by regulations and — prior to resolving whether the release of such dust and powders places the public at risk — we ask that all such events be halted,” DPP spokesperson Wang Min-sheng (王閔生) told a news conference.
“We should ban all such actions at any events in cities where DPP members are the heads of government,” Wang said, adding that the DPP was also asking members in areas not governed by the party to monitor such events through city or county council meetings.
“We hope to avoid recurrences of such events,” Wang said.
The DPP also asked county and city governments to undertake a serious review of the preparedness of their disaster prevention and relief units, Wang said, adding that the local governments should make equipment inventory and cross-regional training for disaster relief and prevention personnel a priority in the coming days.
Hung, the Chinese Nationalist Party’s (KMT) presumptive presidential candidate for next year’s election, called for prayers and immediate relief efforts.
At a meeting of the party’s Department of Youth Affairs in New Taipei City, Hung and other participants bowed their heads for a moment of silence and prayer for those who were injured in the incident.
They then called on the public to provide assistance to the injured.
“We were grieved and pained to hear of the accident,” Hung said, urging amusement park operators to exert extreme caution in organizing similar activities, especially during the peak summer season.
“We call on the public to immediately join the relief efforts and provide assistance to the people injured,” she said.
The KMT has contacted an importer of burn relief pads through KMT Tainan City Councilor Lin Yan-chu (林燕祝) and is trying to assist victims in any way possible, Hung said.
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