Taiwan Formosa Water Park explosion injures hundreds
Saturday's incident at the Formosa Water Park is believed to have happened when a colored powder ignited after being onto the crowd.
Footage showed people panicking and screaming. Inflatable water toys were shown being used as stretchers.
Some 190 people are seriously hurt - 182 are in intensive care.
Some of them breathed in the powder, causing respiratory problems.
Local media said organiser of the Color Play Asia event had been taken in for questioning by prosecutors.
Skin 'gone'
Footage of the incident shows a party in full swing when suddenly fire erupts.
It was "hell", a male student who sustained 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."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 is also used in other countries. It is made of dried corn and can be highly flammable, our correspondent says.
The 519 victims were sent to 41 hospitals, and 413 are still in hospital, say municipal 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 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 temperatures
Many people flocked to 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 of the water park pending an investigation.
Taiwan has suffered a series of deadly fires in the past couple of years due partly to poor enforcement of building and fire safety codes and illegal construction, our correspondent adds.
A fire earlier this year killed six firefighters, prompting orders to rectify illegally constructed buildings and upgrade firefighters' equipment and training.
Structure of the Lead：
WHO-
WHEN-
WHAT-explosion
WHY-
WHERE-
HOW-being discharged onto the crowd
Keywords：
1. organiser ：組織者
2.ignited：點燃
3.discharge：放
4.Inflatable：充氣
5.stretchers：擔架
6.respiratory：呼吸
7. AFP：新法社
8.flammable：易燃的
9.substance：物質
10.pending：待定
Keywords：
1. organiser ：組織者
2.ignited：點燃
3.discharge：放
4.Inflatable：充氣
5.stretchers：擔架
6.respiratory：呼吸
7. AFP：新法社
8.flammable：易燃的
9.substance：物質
10.pending：待定
I think it's the most terrible incident at the water park in Taiwan. Many people was burned and their skins which was peeled off was hurt by explosion. It was horrible scene I have ever seen. I hope the injuries can recover soon and go back to their former life.
回覆刪除Whenever I saw the injuries related to this incident, I always moved my eyes away. Because I felt too terrible to look at that. But in my mind, I hope those people can recover from this incident as soon as possible. And hope the related units can give them relatively reparation.
回覆刪除I remember that I saw this news at midnight, and when seeing that, I was very sympathy for them. I saw a lot of younger were trapped in a big fireball and think they must be very painful. After this accident, the injured have a long and painful way to go. I hope they can recover soon.
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