Video that surfaced on Tuesday shows the moments before a fireball engulfed partygoers at Formosa Fun Coast (八仙海岸) in New Taipei City’s Bali District (八里) on Saturday last week, killing one person and injuring nearly 500.
The footage from an onstage camera is expected to assist investigators to determine the cause of the ignition of cornstarch powder during an event at the park.
In the video, two workers are seen on stage using carbon dioxide-powered sprayers to dispense colored powder over the crowd.
Photo: CNA
The video shows flames flaring toward the right-hand side of the stage then reducing after about six seconds.
The video shows a worker on the stage spraying flames with a canister, apparently causing another flare-up.
The worker, surnamed Shen (沈), said that as he rushed to douse the flames that had engulfed a person running toward him from the dance floor, he mistook the canister for a fire extinguisher.
Shen apologized for his actions.
Other accounts indicated a similar mishap, where a secondary flare up had occurred as a man rushed to pull a woman from the flames, kicking up dust as he ran.
Shen was questioned by the Shihlin Prosecutors’ Office, which cleared him of charges relating to criminal negligence causing bodily harm.
However, he has been placed under house arrest and is listed as a key witness.
As of yesterday, there were 432 injured people being treated at various hospitals nationwide. Among them, 252 with severe burns were still in intensive care wards, according to statistics compiled by the Ministry of Health and Welfare.
Investigators also questioned a park worker surnamed Lu (盧), who was identified from the video footage.
Lu said he had arrived at the park on Saturday morning to cover for a friend who had been hired to work at the event, prosecutors said.
According to the prosecutors, Lu said that event organizers had only given him a 15-minute lesson on how to spray powder.
The recoil from operating the canister sent him stumbling on his first few attempts, Lu was reported as saying.
Lu said that he was instructed to spray large amounts of powder as the revelry peaked, prosecutors said.
He saw that an effects machine on the stage was producing flames, which sparked a series of ignitions, they said.
Investigators said the disaster was likely caused by a faulty effects machine, based on analysis of key footage submitted by eyewitnesses.
By comparing sets of footage, investigators said they have established a rough time line of events and that the flames appeared shortly after the effects machine began operating.
The flames first appeared in the midst of thick plumes of colored powder ejected by the effects machine and began burning in the air before spreading to the ground in a blaze that persisted for about 10 seconds, prosecutors said.
They said that other ignition sources that might have led to the blasts included lit cigarettes, sparks from malfunctioning effects machines and heat given off by high-powered stage lights.
Taiwan is to receive the first batch of Lockheed Martin F-16 Block 70 jets from the US late this month, a defense official said yesterday, after a year-long delay due to a logjam in US arms deliveries. Completing the NT$247.2 billion (US$7.69 billion) arms deal for 66 jets would make Taiwan the third nation in the world to receive factory-fresh advanced fighter jets of the same make and model, following Bahrain and Slovakia, the official said on condition of anonymity. F-16 Block 70/72 are newly manufactured F-16 jets built by Lockheed Martin to the standards of the F-16V upgrade package. Republic of China
Taiwan-Japan Travel Passes are available for use on public transit networks in the two countries, Taoyuan Metro Corp said yesterday, adding that discounts of up to 7 percent are available. Taoyuan Metro, the Taipei MRT and Japan’s Keisei Electric Railway teamed up to develop the pass. Taoyuan Metro operates the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport MRT Line, while Keisei Electric Railway offers express services between Tokyo’s Narita Airport, and the Keisei Ueno and Nippori stations in the Japanese capital, as well as between Narita and Haneda airports. The basic package comprises one one-way ticket on the Taoyuan MRT Line and one Skyliner ticket on
Many Japanese couples are coming to Taiwan to obtain donated sperm or eggs for fertility treatment due to conservatism in their home country, Taiwan’s high standards and low costs, doctors said. One in every six couples in Japan is receiving infertility treatment, Japanese Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare data show. About 70,000 children are born in Japan every year through in vitro fertilization (IVF), or about one in every 11 children born. Few people accept donated reproductive cells in Japan due to a lack of clear regulations, leaving treatment in a “gray zone,” Taichung Nuwa Fertility Center medical director Wang Huai-ling (王懷麟)
PROXIMITY: Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location, the Executive Yuan official said Taiwan plans to boost cooperation with the Czech Republic in semiconductor development due to Prague’s pivotal role in the European IC industry, Executive Yuan Secretary-General Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said. With Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC) building a wafer fab in the German city of Dresden, a Germany-Czech Republic-Poland “silicon triangle” is forming, Kung said in a media interview on the weekend after returning from a visit to Prague. “Prague is closer to Dresden than Berlin is, so Taiwanese firms are expected to take advantage of the Czech capital’s location,” he said. “Taiwan and Prague have already launched direct flights and it is
RSS