An explosion that split the pavement, sending debris into the air on a road in New Taipei City’s Banciao District (板橋) yesterday, was caused by termites biting through a high-voltage cable, local authorities said.
The explosion occurred at 12:38pm at the intersection of Xianmin Boulevard Section 2 and Minsheng Road Section 2, just before Huacui Bridge that leads to Taipei.
After the blast was reported to police, both police and firefighters were dispatched to close off the damaged section of road and direct traffic.
Photo courtesy of New Taipei Public Works Department
No injuries were reported.
The New Taipei City Public Works Department, which took over the response, called Taiwan Power Co (Taipower) and the natural gas distributor to inspect the site, and later confirmed that the blast was caused by damage to a 20,000-volt underground cable.
According to a preliminary investigation by Taipower, termites, which were found at the site, are believed to have chewed through a cable connector, causing the cable to short circuit and trigger a blast of air that ripped through the pavement, leaving a 2m² hole, the department said.
The explosion caused a power outage that affected 4,726 area households, although power was restored for 3,910 households within five minutes and the remainder within one hour.
Following repairs to the cable by Taipower, the road surface was repaired and reopened to traffic at 5:30pm, the public works department said.
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