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.
Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) Chairman Eric Chu (朱立倫), spokeswoman Yang Chih-yu (楊智伃) and Legislator Hsieh Lung-chieh (謝龍介) would be summoned by police for questioning for leading an illegal assembly on Thursday evening last week, Minister of the Interior Liu Shyh-fang (劉世芳) said today. The three KMT officials led an assembly outside the Taipei City Prosecutors’ Office, a restricted area where public assembly is not allowed, protesting the questioning of several KMT staff and searches of KMT headquarters and offices in a recall petition forgery case. Chu, Yang and Hsieh are all suspected of contravening the Assembly and Parade Act (集會遊行法) by holding
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