A gas explosion yesterday at a petrochemical plant in the Formosa Plastics Group (FPG, 台塑集團) naphtha cracker complex in Yunlin County’s Mailiao Township (麥寮) sparked a fire, but there were no casualties, a FPG executive said.
The blast was triggered by a leak of liquefied petroleum gas, said Chen Wen-yang (陳文仰), a deputy director in FPG’s Mailiao management division.
The explosion occurred at an aromatics production factory run by Formosa Chemicals & Fibre Corp (台灣化纖) at about 2pm, and the blast was heard by people living up to 6km away, local firefighters said.
Photo: CNA
It was followed by a dense plume of smoke rising into the sky.
The fire was reported to the Yunlin County Fire Department at 2:05pm and fire trucks and ambulances from several brigades were dispatched to the plant.
When they arrived 20 minutes later, a fire was blazing, the firefighters said.
The blaze was quickly brought under control, Chen said.
Operations at the aromatics factory have been suspended to allow for a complete inspection of its pipelines, he added.
The Yunlin County Government, which ordered the factory to be immediately shut down for the investigation, said it would impose a NT$5 million (US$162,248) fine on the company for contravening the Air Pollution Control Act (空氣污染防制法).
It demanded that FPG replace old pipelines and equipment in the naphtha cracker complex.
The group should also take full responsibility for the repairs of nearby fish ponds and residential properties damaged by the explosion, the country government said.
AIR SUPPORT: The Ministry of National Defense thanked the US for the delivery, adding that it was an indicator of the White House’s commitment to the Taiwan Relations Act Deputy Minister of National Defense Po Horng-huei (柏鴻輝) and Representative to the US Alexander Yui on Friday attended a delivery ceremony for the first of Taiwan’s long-awaited 66 F-16C/D Block 70 jets at a Lockheed Martin Corp factory in Greenville, South Carolina. “We are so proud to be the global home of the F-16 and to support Taiwan’s air defense capabilities,” US Representative William Timmons wrote on X, alongside a photograph of Taiwanese and US officials at the event. The F-16C/D Block 70 jets Taiwan ordered have the same capabilities as aircraft that had been upgraded to F-16Vs. The batch of Lockheed Martin
GRIDLOCK: The National Fire Agency’s Special Search and Rescue team is on standby to travel to the countries to help out with the rescue effort A powerful earthquake rocked Myanmar and neighboring Thailand yesterday, killing at least three people in Bangkok and burying dozens when a high-rise building under construction collapsed. Footage shared on social media from Myanmar’s second-largest city showed widespread destruction, raising fears that many were trapped under the rubble or killed. The magnitude 7.7 earthquake, with an epicenter near Mandalay in Myanmar, struck at midday and was followed by a strong magnitude 6.4 aftershock. The extent of death, injury and destruction — especially in Myanmar, which is embroiled in a civil war and where information is tightly controlled at the best of times —
Taiwan was ranked the fourth-safest country in the world with a score of 82.9, trailing only Andorra, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in Numbeo’s Safety Index by Country report. Taiwan’s score improved by 0.1 points compared with last year’s mid-year report, which had Taiwan fourth with a score of 82.8. However, both scores were lower than in last year’s first review, when Taiwan scored 83.3, and are a long way from when Taiwan was named the second-safest country in the world in 2021, scoring 84.8. Taiwan ranked higher than Singapore in ninth with a score of 77.4 and Japan in 10th with
China's military today said it began joint army, navy and rocket force exercises around Taiwan to "serve as a stern warning and powerful deterrent against Taiwanese independence," calling President William Lai (賴清德) a "parasite." The exercises come after Lai called Beijing a "foreign hostile force" last month. More than 10 Chinese military ships approached close to Taiwan's 24 nautical mile (44.4km) contiguous zone this morning and Taiwan sent its own warships to respond, two senior Taiwanese officials said. Taiwan has not yet detected any live fire by the Chinese military so far, one of the officials said. The drills took place after US Secretary
RSS