INCIDENT
Two dead after explosion
An explosion at Juei Feng Aluminium Co’s plant in Kaohsiung yesterday morning has left two Thai workers dead and six others injured. The Kaohsiung Fire Bureau said eight workers were rushed to local hospitals after the explosion at 8:23am. One of the workers, 37, was declared dead upon arrival, while a second, a man in his 50s, was found without vital signs, and declared dead after attempts to revive him failed, officials said. Of the remaining six injured, one was still being treated by doctors, three were recuperating in hospital, and two were discharged. Kaohsiung’s Labor Affairs Bureau said the cause of the explosion was still under investigation, but that moisture is thought to have come into contact with molten aluminum due to a faulty control system. The bureau has ordered Juei Feng to suspend operations and fined the company NT$300,000 for contraventions of the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法).
WEATHER
Nation saw highs of 32°C
Central and southern Taiwan saw daytime highs of 32°C and 27°C to 29°C in northern and eastern Taiwan yesterday, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said.Warm and sunny conditions are forecast to continue into tomorrow, with daytime highs of 30°C and lows of at least 20°C across Taiwan, the CWA said. North and northeastern Taiwan is to become cooler on Tuesday due to the effects of a passing front and strengthened northeasterly winds, with a chance of rain, it said.
DIPLOMACY
Kaohsiung gets new sister
Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) and Pristina Mayor Perparim Rama on Friday signed a sister city agreement at the Kaohsiung City Government, making Kaohsiung Pristina’s first Asian sister city and the Kosovar capital Kaohsiung’s 39th sister city. Taiwan and Kosovo have faced similar challenges on their paths toward freedom and democracy, and this makes it even more meaningful that Kaohsiung and Pristina have become sister cities, Chen said. The Kosovar delegation was in Taiwan from Monday to yesterday for the Smart City Summit and Expo. Rama said he enjoyed the visit, adding that the two cities have collaboration potential in areas including technology, smart cities and the start-up industry. There is a mutual wish to foster a close partnership, he said.
CROSS STRAIT
Taiwanese fisher returned
A Taiwanese man, surnamed Wu (吳), and his fishing boat were handed over to the Kinmen Coast Guard by Chinese officials yesterday, while a second Taiwanese was still being held by China after the two were detained by the China Coast Guard in Fujian Province’s Weitou Bay on Monday. The Kinmen County Government said the handover was completed at 12:10pm with the 40-year-old Wu successfully disembarking at Liaoluo Port in Kinmen at 1pm. However, the second man, a 25-year-old surnamed Hu (胡), was still being held by China having failed to inform the authorities he is an active-duty soldier, and officials are further investigating the situation, the Chinese State Council’s Taiwan Affairs Office said. The Coast Guard Administration said Hu and Wu, who are residents of Jinsha Township (金沙), Kinmen County, encountered heavy fog on March 17 while fishing and inadvertently drifted into waters near Quanzhou, China, where they were found by the China Coast Guard. The Kinmen County Government said it would continue to communicate with Chinese officials in the hope that Hu could be returned as soon as possible.
TRAGEDY: An expert said that the incident was uncommon as the chance of a ground crew member being sucked into an IDF engine was ‘minuscule’ A master sergeant yesterday morning died after she was sucked into an engine during a routine inspection of a fighter jet at an air base in Taichung, the Air Force Command Headquarters said. The officer, surnamed Hu (胡), was conducting final landing checks at Ching Chuan Kang (清泉崗) Air Base when she was pulled into the jet’s engine for unknown reasons, the air force said in a news release. She was transported to a hospital for emergency treatment, but could not be revived, it said. The air force expressed its deepest sympathies over the incident, and vowed to work with authorities as they
A tourist who was struck and injured by a train in a scenic area of New Taipei City’s Pingsi District (平溪) on Monday might be fined for trespassing on the tracks, the Railway Police Bureau said yesterday. The New Taipei City Fire Department said it received a call at 4:37pm on Monday about an incident in Shifen (十分), a tourist destination on the Pingsi Railway Line. After arriving on the scene, paramedics treated a woman in her 30s for a 3cm to 5cm laceration on her head, the department said. She was taken to a hospital in Keelung, it said. Surveillance footage from a
BITTERLY COLD: The inauguration ceremony for US president-elect Donald Trump has been moved indoors due to cold weather, with the new venue lacking capacity A delegation of cross-party lawmakers from Taiwan, led by Legislative Speaker Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜), for the inauguration of US president-elect Donald Trump, would not be able to attend the ceremony, as it is being moved indoors due to forecasts of intense cold weather in Washington tomorrow. The inauguration ceremony for Trump and US vice president-elect JD Vance is to be held inside the Capitol Rotunda, which has a capacity of about 2,000 people. A person familiar with the issue yesterday said although the outdoor inauguration ceremony has been relocated, Taiwan’s legislative delegation has decided to head off to Washington as scheduled. The delegation
Another wave of cold air would affect Taiwan starting from Friday and could evolve into a continental cold mass, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. Temperatures could drop below 10°C across Taiwan on Monday and Tuesday next week, CWA forecaster Chang Chun-yao (張竣堯) said. Seasonal northeasterly winds could bring rain, he said. Meanwhile, due to the continental cold mass and radiative cooling, it would be cold in northern and northeastern Taiwan today and tomorrow, according to the CWA. From last night to this morning, temperatures could drop below 10°C in northern Taiwan, it said. A thin coat of snow
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