The central government would assist local governments to enhance public safety, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday as he visited people in hospital who were injured in an explosion at a department store in Taichung on Thursday.
A suspected gas explosion occurred on the 12th floor of the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Zhonggang department store in Taichung at 11:33am on Thursday, killing four people and injuring 36.
Of the 40 casualties, 39 were hospitalized, Ministry of Health and Welfare data showed.
Photo courtesy of the Taichung City Government
Three died after out-of-hospital cardiac arrests, the data showed.
As of 6am yesterday, 25 of those injured had been discharged from hospital, leaving 11 hospitalized, with five in intensive care units and six in general wards, the data showed.
Lai visited Lin Shin Hospital and Taichung Veterans General Hospital yesterday morning.
Many people are very concerned and saddened about the incident at the department store, which caused many deaths and injuries, he said.
Lai said that Premier Cho Jung-tai (卓榮泰) has instructed the National Fire Agency and the ministry to help the Taichung City Government enhance its fire control, disaster relief and medical treatment procedures.
“I hope Premier Cho will also instruct government agencies to assist local governments to ensure public safety, as they cause many casualties, great societal loss and great harm to families,” Lai said.
“We must enhance the prevention of occupational incidents, including paying attention to construction procedures, to prevent injuries to workers,” he added.
Lai wished the patients a speedy recovery and thanked Taichung City Government officials, especially the firefighters, rescue workers, healthcare practitioners and volunteers who helped at the scene and in hospital.
The Taichung Fire Bureau on Friday said that its initial findings on the cause of the department store blast was a possible gas leak, as interior renovations were being done on the 11th and 12th floors.
Separately, Changhua Christian Hospital yesterday awarded Gou Yun-hsuan (郭芸?) and Su Yi-fan (蘇奕帆) — nurses from its Emergency Department — a cash gift of NT$100,000 for voluntarily performing emergency treatment for people outside the department store immediately after the explosion.
The two nurses were shopping at the department store at the time and rushed to the first floor and helped perform cardiopulmonary resuscitation on an injured person, Changhua Christian Hospital said.
Hospital superintendent Chen Mu-kuan (陳穆寬) said it was rewarding Gou and Su for their bravery and selfless dedication to saving lives.
Through the cash gift, the hospital expresses its gratitude and hopes to convey its belief that the value of healthcare practitioners is not limited to hospital buildings, but that they can save lives at any place at any time, Chen said.
Meanwhile, Shin Kong Mitsukoshi pledged to give the families of the four people who died NT$11 million (US$335,673) each.
The compensation packages, comprising condolence money and insurance payments, are to “express its deepest sympathy and support for the victims’ families,” it said in a statement.
The families are being assisted in dealing with the aftermath, it said, adding that it is also providing all necessary support and assistance, including paid leave, to ensure the working rights of its staff are not affected.
Additional reporting by CNA
Taiwan yesterday condemned the recent increase in Chinese coast guard-escorted fishing vessels operating illegally in waters around the Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the South China Sea. Unusually large groupings of Chinese fishing vessels began to appear around the islands on Feb. 15, when at least six motherships and 29 smaller boats were sighted, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said in a news release. While CGA vessels were dispatched to expel the Chinese boats, Chinese coast guard ships trespassed into Taiwan’s restricted waters and unsuccessfully attempted to interfere, the CGA said. Due to the provocation, the CGA initiated an operation to increase
A crowd of over 200 people gathered outside the Taipei District Court as two sisters indicted for abusing a 1-year-old boy to death attended a preliminary hearing in the case yesterday afternoon. The crowd held up signs and chanted slogans calling for aggravated penalties in child abuse cases and asking for no bail and “capital punishment.” They also held white flowers in memory of the boy, nicknamed Kai Kai (剴剴), who was allegedly tortured to death by the sisters in December 2023. The boy died four months after being placed in full-time foster care with the
A Taiwanese woman on Sunday was injured by a small piece of masonry that fell from the dome of St Peter’s Basilica in the Vatican during a visit to the church. The tourist, identified as Hsu Yun-chen (許芸禎), was struck on the forehead while she and her tour group were near Michelangelo’s sculpture Pieta. Hsu was rushed to a hospital, the group’s guide to the church, Fu Jing, said yesterday. Hsu was found not to have serious injuries and was able to continue her tour as scheduled, Fu added. Mathew Lee (李世明), Taiwan’s recently retired ambassador to the Holy See, said he met
The Shanlan Express (山嵐號), or “Mountain Mist Express,” is scheduled to launch on April 19 as part of the centennial celebration of the inauguration of the Taitung Line. The tourism express train was renovated from the Taiwan Railway Corp’s EMU500 commuter trains. It has four carriages and a seating capacity of 60 passengers. Lion Travel is arranging railway tours for the express service. Several news outlets were invited to experience the pilot tour on the new express train service, which is to operate between Hualien Railway Station and Chihshang (池上) Railway Station in Taitung County. It would also be the first tourism service
RSS