Nine soldiers were injured, two seriously, after an explosion at an ammunition depot at the Hsiang Feng military base in Keelung yesterday, the Ministry of National Defense said.
The blast occurred at about 3pm, when a 120mm mortar round exploded during an inspection by technical personnel, the ministry said, adding that the cause of the explosion is under investigation.
Emergency services said that they transported six of the injured soldiers to Chang Gung Memorial Hospital in Keelung, and five of them were treated for scrapes, ringing ears and dizziness.
Photo: Wu Sheng-ju, Taipei Times
A staff sergeant surnamed Hung (洪), whose right thigh and left arm were severely disfigured in the blast, arrived at the hospital without vital signs, but was successfully revived, the hospital said.
A 34-year-old sergeant surnamed Yin (尹), who had second and third-degree burns on his arms and face, and whose left arm was extensively damaged, was taken to Tri Service General Hospital’s Keelung branch.
Although Yin was able to respond to doctors’ questions upon arriving at the hospital, he was later intubated and transferred to Tri-Service General Hospital’s branch in Taipei’s Neihu District (內湖), hospital deputy superintendent Liu Jui-meng (劉瑞盟) said.
The other two soldiers sought medical attention on their own, the military said.
The ammunition depot where the explosion occurred is operated by the Third Branch of the Sixth Army Command. The base is on the east side of Keelung’s inner harbor, northeast of the city’s downtown area.
The ministry has yet to say whether the accident was related to the annual Han Kuang military exercises, which started yesterday in northern Taiwan and run through Friday.
A relatively large earthquake may strike within the next two weeks, following a magnitude 5.2 temblor that shook Taitung County this morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. An earthquake struck at 8:18am today 10.2km west of Taitung County Hall in Taitung City at a relatively shallow depth of 6.5km, CWA data showed. The largest intensity of 4 was felt in Taitung and Pingtung counties, which received an alert notice, while areas north of Taichung did not feel any shaking, the CWA said. The earthquake was the result of the collision between the Philippine Plate and the Eurasian Plate, the agency said, adding
Snow fell in the mountainous areas of northern, central and eastern Taiwan in the early hours of yesterday, as cold air currents moved south. In the northern municipality of Taoyuan, snow started falling at about 6am in Fusing District (復興), district head Su Tso-hsi (蘇佐璽) said. By 10am, Lalashan National Forest Recreation Area, as well as Hualing (華陵), Sanguang (三光) and Gaoyi (高義) boroughs had seen snowfall, Su said. In central Taiwan, Shei-Pa National Park in Miaoli County and Hehuanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Nantou County saw snowfall of 5cm and 6cm respectively, by 10am, staff at the parks said. It began snowing
HOLIDAY EXERCISE: National forest recreation areas from north to south offer travelers a wide choice of sights to connect with nature and enjoy its benefits Hiking is a good way to improve one’s health, the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency said, as it released a list of national forest recreation areas that travelers can visit during the Lunar New Year holiday. Taking a green shower of phytoncides in the woods could boost one’s immunity system and metabolism, agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) cited a Japanese study as saying. For people visiting northern Taiwan, Lin recommended the Dongyanshan National Forest Recreation Area in Taoyuan’s Fusing District (復興). Once an important plantation in the north, Dongyanshan (東眼山) has a number of historic monuments, he said. The area is broadly covered by
COMMUNITY SPIRIT: As authorities were busy with post-typhoon cleanups elsewhere, residents cleaned fallen leaves and cut small fallen trees blocking the hiking trails All hiking trails damaged by Typhoon Kong-rey have been repaired and has reopened for people who want a refreshing hike in Taipei during the Lunar New Year holiday, a city official said. The Taipei Basin is known for its easily accessible hiking trails. It has more than 130 trails combined into the 92km-long Taipei Grand Trail, which was divided into seven major routes when it was launched by the Taipei City Government in 2018. Last year, a part of the sixth route of the Grand Trail collapsed due to Typhoon Kong-rey, which hit Taiwan in October. The damaged section belongs to one
RSS