Fifty witnesses have been summoned in an investigation into a deadly explosion at Taichung Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store in February, the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office said in a statement yesterday, but it did not confirm a Chinese-language report that a gas valve on site had not been shut off.
An exclusive report published yesterday by the Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times) said that a gas meter had been removed, but the valve had not been shut off at the department store on the day of the incident.
The office did not confirm the report, saying that a comprehensive investigation into all parties with potential criminal liability is ongoing.
Prosecutors summoned on-site workers, as well as representatives from Shin Chung Natural Gas Co (欣中天然氣) and Shin Kong Mitsukoshi, to clarify the cause of the gas explosion, the statement said.
Some of the witnesses have been named as defendants and subsequent investigations would be conducted to clarify any criminal liability as soon as possible, it said.
The explosion at the department store on Feb. 13 killed five people and injured more than 30.
A Taichung Fire Bureau report released at the end of last month said that the explosion was caused by gas, while cigarette butts, electrical wires, a gas pipe and a circular saw were among the items found at the blast site.
Prosecutors said they formed a special task force to analyze the bureau’s report.
The office is investigating based on all of the material that has been gathered, and is looking into parties with potential criminal liability such as operators, contractors and construction teams, it said.
The scope of accountability would only be determined once the office’s investigation is complete, it added.
As of yesterday, investigators had entered the site nine times and conducted interrogations 64 times, prosecutors said.
Additional reporting by CNA
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
Taiwan would welcome the return of Honduras as a diplomatic ally if its next president decides to make such a move, Minister of Foreign Affairs Lin Chia-lung (林佳龍) said yesterday. “Of course, we would welcome Honduras if they want to restore diplomatic ties with Taiwan after their elections,” Lin said at a meeting of the legislature’s Foreign Affairs and National Defense Committee, when asked to comment on statements made by two of the three Honduran presidential candidates during the presidential campaign in the Central American country. Taiwan is paying close attention to the region as a whole in the wake of a
PRAISE: Japanese visitor Takashi Kubota said the Taiwanese temple architecture images showcased in the AI Art Gallery were the most impressive displays he saw Taiwan does not have an official pavilion at the World Expo in Osaka, Japan, because of its diplomatic predicament, but the government-backed Tech World pavilion is drawing interest with its unique recreations of works by Taiwanese artists. The pavilion features an artificial intelligence (AI)-based art gallery showcasing works of famous Taiwanese artists from the Japanese colonial period using innovative technologies. Among its main simulated displays are Eastern gouache paintings by Chen Chin (陳進), Lin Yu-shan (林玉山) and Kuo Hsueh-hu (郭雪湖), who were the three young Taiwanese painters selected for the East Asian Painting exhibition in 1927. Gouache is a water-based
OFF-TARGET: More than 30,000 participants were expected to take part in the Games next month, but only 6,550 foreign and 19,400 Taiwanese athletes have registered Taipei city councilors yesterday blasted the organizers of next month’s World Masters Games over sudden timetable and venue changes, which they said have caused thousands of participants to back out of the international sporting event, among other organizational issues. They also cited visa delays and political interference by China as reasons many foreign athletes are requesting refunds for the event, to be held from May 17 to 30. Jointly organized by the Taipei and New Taipei City governments, the games have been rocked by numerous controversies since preparations began in 2020. Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) said yesterday that new measures by
RSS