An initial investigation has pointed to a deep fryer as the source of a fire at a food factory in Changhua County that killed seven workers and left three in a critical condition, a fire department official said on Wednesday.
Changhua Fire Bureau investigation division head Shih Guei-pan (施貴般) said that statements from survivors of Tuesday’s fire at a Lian Hwa Foods plant indicated that a fryer on the facility’s second floor might have caused the blaze.
However, investigations were ongoing, Shih said.
Photo: CNA
The fire broke out at about 6am, trapping 22 employees before firefighters arrived.
Changhua Fire Bureau chief Shih Shun-jen (施順仁) said that all employees had been pulled out of the building by about 10:10am, but 10 of them had no vital signs.
All those rescued from the fire were rushed to hospitals, including Changhua Hospital and Yuan Rung Hospital, for emergency treatment.
Seven workers were declared dead upon arrival at hospital, including three migrant workers from the Philippines, the county government said on Tuesday.
Changhua Hospital on Wednesday morning said that medical staff had resuscitated three individuals who were not breathing and had no heartbeat when they arrived at the hospital.
Two of them, a 26-year-old man surnamed Chen (陳) and a 33-year-old Filipina have regained consciousness and their conditions are not life-threatening, while the other, a 49-year-old woman surnamed Hsu (許), had not yet regained consciousness and remained in a critical condition, the hospital said.
In the wake of the fire, the Ministry of Labor — which has since 2020 flagged 26 breaches of labor rules during 57 visits to Lian Hwa’s five factories — said it would inspect the company’s facilities this week.
Ministry records show that it fined Lian Hwa NT$60,000 in 2022 after it was determined that machinery and equipment at the company’s site in Taoyuan was likely to endanger workers.
Occupational Safety and Health Department head Chu Wen-yung (朱文勇) told reporters on Wednesday that in addition to the Changhua facility, the ministry would conduct occupational health and safety inspections of Lian Hwa’s other factories in Keelung, Hsinchu County, Taoyuan and Chiayi County.
The ministry is also planning a thorough inspection of similar food factories this year, with a focus on risks arising from manufacturing processes and equipment defects, Chu said.
Meanwhile, the Changhua County Government said it would fine Lian Hwa NT$60,000 to NT$300,000 for failing to schedule a public safety inspection for the factory last year.
Twenty-four Republican members of the US House of Representatives yesterday introduced a concurrent resolution calling on the US government to abolish the “one China” policy and restore formal diplomatic relations with Taiwan. Led by US representatives Tom Tiffany and Scott Perry, the resolution calls for not only re-establishing formal relations, but also urges the US Trade Representative to negotiate a free-trade agreement (FTA) with Taiwan and for US officials to advocate for Taiwan’s full membership in the UN and other international organizations. In a news release announcing the resolution, Tiffany, who represents a Wisconsin district, called the “one China” policy “outdated, counterproductive
Actress Barbie Hsu (徐熙媛) has “returned home” to Taiwan, and there are no plans to hold a funeral for the TV star who died in Japan from influenza- induced pneumonia, her family said in a statement Wednesday night. The statement was released after local media outlets reported that Barbie Hsu’s ashes were brought back Taiwan on board a private jet, which arrived at Taipei Songshan Airport around 3 p.m. on Wednesday. To the reporters waiting at the airport, the statement issued by the family read “[we] appreciate friends working in the media for waiting in the cold weather.” “She has safely returned home.
ON PAROLE: The 73-year-old suspect has a criminal record of rape committed when he was serving in the military, as well as robbery and theft, police said The Kaohsiung District Court yesterday approved the detention of a 73-year-old man for allegedly murdering three women. The suspect, surnamed Chang (張), was arrested on Wednesday evening in connection with the death of a 71-year-old woman surnamed Chao (趙). The Kaohsiung City Police Department yesterday also unveiled the identities of two other possible victims in the serial killing case, a 75-year-old woman surnamed Huang (黃), the suspect’s sister-in-law, and a 75-year-old woman surnamed Chang (張), who is not related to the suspect. The case came to light when Chao disappeared after taking the suspect back to his residence on Sunday. Police, upon reviewing CCTV
Johanne Liou (劉喬安), a Taiwanese woman who shot to unwanted fame during the Sunflower movement protests in 2014, was arrested in Boston last month amid US President Donald Trump’s crackdown on illegal immigrants, the Criminal Investigation Bureau (CIB) said yesterday. The arrest of Liou was first made public on the official Web site of US Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) on Tuesday. ICE said Liou was apprehended for overstaying her visa. The Boston Field Office’s Enforcement and Removal Operations (ERO) had arrested Liou, a “fugitive, criminal alien wanted for embezzlement, fraud and drug crimes in Taiwan,” ICE said. Liou was taken into custody
RSS