Two cleaners on Sunday died from suspected hydrogen sulfide poisoning at a hot spring hotel in Taipei’s Beitou District (北投), authorities said.
The Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 10:49am about two workers who lost consciousness while cleaning a water storage tank at a hot spring hotel off Wenquan Road.
Upon arriving, firefighters found the workers — identified as a 54-year-old man surnamed Hsieh (謝) and a 42-year-old woman surnamed Yun (雲) — not breathing and without heartbeats, authorities said.
Photo: CNA
They were taken to a local hospital, where they were later pronounced dead, authorities said, adding that the exact cause of death had yet to be determined.
Local media reported that firefighters initially detected hydrogen sulfide inside the storage tank at a concentration of 200 parts per million (ppm), far higher than the 10ppm legal limit.
Firefighters set up equipment to ventilate and remove water from the tank, reducing the hydrogen sulfide concentration to about 85ppm, before descending into the tank to extricate the cleaners, who were taken to the hospital at 12:15pm, the reports said.
Hydrogen sulfide is a gas that gives sulfur springs their characteristic “rotten egg” smell.
It can cause loss of smell at a concentration of 100-150ppm and marked eye and respiratory irritation at 200-300ppm, while at a concentration of 500-700ppm, it can cause a person to collapse within five minutes and die within 30 to 60 minutes, according to the Occupational Safety and Health Administration.
The hotel where the incident occurred was not open to the public at the time, the Taipei City Labor Inspection Office said in a statement.
The hotel “conducted drainage” on the storage tank on Friday to allow the workers to clean silt from the inside on Sunday, a preliminary investigation showed.
The gas was likely released into the air as the cleaners were scrubbing the tank, the office said.
The hotel has been ordered not to resume cleaning the tank until the investigation is concluded.
Taipei hot spring operators, many of which are cleaning storage tanks in preparation for the winter, have been asked to enhance employee training for working in confined spaces, the labor office said.
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