Taiwan Formosa Water Park explosion injures hundreds
28 June 2015
From the section Asia
More than 500 people were injured when fire
ripped through[1] crowds at a party at an amusement
park outside Taiwan's capital Taipei.
Saturday's incident[2] at the Formosa Water Park is
believed to have happened when a coloured[3] powder ignited[4] after being discharged onto the
crowd.
Footage showed people panicking[5] and screaming. Inflatable[6] water toys were shown being used as
stretchers[7].
Some 190 people are seriously hurt - 182
are in intensive care[8].
Some of them breathed in the powder,
causing respiratory[9] problems.
Local media said organisers[10] of the Color Play Asia event had
been taken in for questioning[11] by prosecutors[12].
Skin 'gone'
Footage of the incident shows a party in
full swing[13] when suddenly fire erupts.
It was "hell", a male student who
sustained[14] minor injuries said, according to
AFP news agency.
"There was blood everywhere, including
in the pool where lots of the injured were soaking themselves for relief from
the pain."
His girlfriend added: "I saw lots of
people whose skin was gone[15]."
The fire was quickly brought under control,
but the cause of the incident is still under investigation.
The authorities believe something that
caught fire caused the coloured powder spray or dust - used to create a party
atmosphere - to explode.
The substance[16] is also used in other countries. It
is made of dried corn and can be highly flammable[17], our correspondent[18] says.
The 519 victims were sent to 41 hospitals,
and 413 are still in hospital, say municipal[19] authorities.
The incident occurred about 20:30 (12:30
GMT). More than 1,000 people were near the stage at the time.
The fire department[20] said: "Our initial
understanding is this explosion and fire... was caused by the powder spray. It
could have been due to the heat of the lights on the stage".
Soaring[21] temperatures
Many people flocked to[22] water parks on Saturday as
temperatures reached 36.6C (98F) in Taipei and as high as 38C in other parts of
Taiwan, says the BBC's Cindy Sui in Taipei.
New Taipei City's mayor, Eric Chu, ordered
an immediate shutdown[23] of the water park pending[24] an investigation.
Taiwan has suffered a series of deadly
fires in the past couple of years due partly to poor enforcement[25] of building and fire safety codes[26] and illegal construction, our
correspondent adds.
A fire earlier this year killed six
firefighters, prompting[27] orders to rectify[28] illegally constructed buildings and
upgrade firefighters' equipment and training.
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33300970
Structure of the Lead：
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-33300970
Structure of the Lead：
- WHO- More than 500 people
- WHAT- were injured
- HOW- fire ripped through crowds
- WHEN- at a party
- WHERE- at an amusement park outside Taiwan's capital Taipei
- WHY-not given
Keywords：
[1] rip through：襲擊
[2] incident：事件
[3] coloured：有色的
[4] ignite：燃燒
[5] panic：驚慌
[6] inflatable：充氣艇
[7] stretcher：擔架
[8] intensive care：加護病房
[9] respiratory：呼吸的
[10] organiser：發起人
[11] be taken in for questioning：被帶回審問
[12] prosecutor：檢察官
[13] in full swing：熱烈進行中
[14] sustain：遭受
[15] gone：不見了
[16] substance：物質
[17] flammable：易燃的
[18] correspondent：記者
[19] municipal：市政府的
[20] fire department：消防隊
[21] soaring：驟升
[22] flock to：蜂擁而至
[23] shutdown：歇業
[24] pending：在等待…之際
[25] enforcement：執行
[26] code：法規
[27] prompt：促使
[28] rectify：整頓
