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Powerful Taiwan gas explosions kill 20, injure 270
AFP
August 1, 2014, 8:50 am
Taipei (AFP) - Gas leaks triggered a series of powerful explosions in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung, killing at least 20 people and injuring up to 270, officials said Friday, warning that the toll is expected to rise.
The explosions sparked a massive inferno that ripped through the city's Cianjhen district, sending terrified residents fleeing a huge ball of flames.
"The blasts late Thursday killed at least 20 people and left 270 others injured," the National Fire Agency said, adding that the injured were being rushed to various hospitals in the port city.
Eyewitnesses reported seeing dead bodies littered on the streets.
The explosions, believed to have been triggered by gas leaks, were powerful enough to upturn cars and rip open paved roads.
"The explosions were like thunder and the road in front of my shop ripped open. It felt like an earthquake," Taiwan's Central News Agency quoted an eyewitness as saying.
The exact cause of the gas leaks that triggered the explosions is still unclear.
Residents were seen carrying the injured on makeshift stretchers as ambulances rushed to the scene and firefighters in yellow overalls began removing bodies from the area.
Kaohsiung's mayor Chen Chu earlier put the death toll at 15 and the fire agency said four firefighters were among those killed.
- 'My house shook' -
"The local fire department received calls of gas leaks late Thursday and then there were a series of blasts around midnight affecting an area of two to three square kilometres," the fire agency said in a statement.
One local resident surnamed Peng said: "There was a heavy odour of gas and... then I heard explosions and saw fire spurting from a store."
"My house shook as if there were an earthquake and power went out," she was quoted as saying by the Taiwan Central News Agency.
Local media reported that emergency rooms in Kaohsiung city hospitals were packed with casualties and officials warned that the death toll was expected to rise.
The local government were evacuating residents from the impacted areas and urged schools and offices in the area to provide shelter to those affected as they tried to locate the source of the leaks.
Thursday's inferno came just a week after a TransAsia Airways plane crash in Taiwan left 48 people dead.
The plane carrying 54 passengers and four crew on a domestic flight plunged into houses in Magong in offshore Penghu islands in stormy weather after a typhoon pounded Taiwan. Two French nationals were among the dead.
In 2012, a man started a fire in a nursing home in southern Tainan city that killed 13 people and injured 60 others.
In 2011, four people were killed and 38 others injured when a truckload of firecrackers exploded in northern Taiwan.
The blast, which destroyed a dozen houses, occurred as the truck driver was unloading the firecrackers near a paper shop in New Taipei City.
Workers clear debris from an intersection in Kaohsiung. Two firefighters are still missing from the explosions that killed at least 28 people. Photo: XInhua
Taiwanese Premier Jiang Yi-huah has announced an overhaul of pipelines across the island after a series of deadly explosions in the southern city of Kaohsiung claimed 28 lives and injured more than 300.
He said a comprehensive review of the city's underground pipelines would take place, including their design and management.
The Ministry of Economic Affairs will compile all relevant information regarding underground pipelines to help assess which ones should be moved.
Reconstruction efforts following the blast would cost about NT$1.9 billion (HK$492 million), the city government said yesterday.
Meanwhile LCY Chemical, owner of the pipeline that caused the accident on Friday, said it never inspected the pipeline because it "did not have the keys".
A spokeswoman for LCY said the pipeline was designed and constructed by state-owned CPC Corporation. Construction was completed in 1994.
Workers clear debris from an intersection in Kaohsiung. Two firefighters are still missing from the explosions that killed at least 28 people. Photo: CNA
LCY paid for the design and construction, but CPC was responsible for the maintenance, the spokeswoman said. "We don't even have the keys to the tunnel for maintenance."
CPC, however, said it was LCY's responsibility to maintain the pipeline after it was handed over to the company.
In a statement, CPC said it did not have a maintenance contract with LCY. "The pipeline is LCY's property. It has the right to use it, and it has the responsibility to maintain it," it said.
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu estimated that reconstruction of the damaged roads would cost NT$1.2 billion.
A relative of a victim cries as other relatives pray at the site of a gas explosion. Photo: AFP
She urged the Taipei government to tell Kaohsiung residents exactly where underground pipelines were located.
"Only in this way can we protect the residents," she said. "People here have the right to know."
Shen Jong-chin, the vice-minister of economic affairs , said the petrochemical industry should submit information on the distribution of pipelines near the disaster area to the ministry within a week, adding that the details should be clear and prcise.
The LCY spokeswoman said the company had bought insurance, but the amount was small. She would not reveal the actual sum. "But affected parties shouldn't worry," she said. "If the investigation finds it was indeed our fault, we would compensate them anyhow."
Yesterday, rescue workers continued to search for survivors and bodies using their bare hands, shovels and other small tools, to avoid the possibility of triggering further explosions.
