June 27: On This Day in World History … briefly
The New Taipei City news department head stated 'It's still not clear what happened, but there were a number of people smoking and the weather was warm.'
2015: Midair explosion at Taiwan recreational water park kills 15
A flammable starch-based powder exploded at the Formosa Fun Coast, a recreational water park in Bali, New Taipei, Taiwan, injuring 508 people, with 199 in critical condition. As of November 29, 2015, fifteen fatalities were attributed to the explosion. The dust explosion, which occurred on a music stage during a ‘Colour Play Asia’ party has been called the ‘worst incident of mass injury (ever) in New Taipei’. The powder was identified as coloured corn starch by some sources.
The ‘Colour Play Asia’ party was inspired by the coloured powder used in the Hindu religious festival ‘Holi’, also called ‘festival of colours’, which is celebrated in India, Nepal, and other countries with large Hindu populations. In August 2013, the first Taiwanese colour party took place in Sizihwan, Kaohsiung City. It was organised by the same event company that organised ‘Colour Play Asia’. That same year, a National Tsing Hua University expert warned that the coloured powder used during Colour Play Asia parties might cause a dust explosion if the material was combustible.
Party-goers were singing and dancing on the stage, which holds up to 1 000. Other party-goers danced in a drained pool nearby. Concert organisers deployed coloured corn starch powder in the festivities. The method of powder application at the concert created ‘an extremely dense dust cloud over the stage and its immediate vicinity’, people near the stage were standing ‘almost ankle-deep’ in coloured corn starch powder, and the powder was repeatedly suspended into the air using air blowers, as well as compressed gas canisters.
At about 8.30pm, a large deflagration (subsonic combustion propagating through heat transfer) occurred when a cloud of coloured powder ignited after being discharged from the stage onto a crowd of 1 000 people during a concert. Some breathed in the powder, causing respiratory problems. As recorded in an amateur video by an audience member, a massive fireball suddenly engulfed the stage. The powder caught fire along the ground, resulting in burns mainly to victims’ limbs and torsos. According to authorities, the fire was quickly extinguished. Some victims were carried out on swim rings because their skin was sloughing off when touched. The rescue included help from army vehicles and soldiers, along with medical services.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
HAVE YOUR SAY
Like our Facebook page, follow us on Twitter and Instagram
