Premier Jiang Yi-huah today visited the sites of last night's gas explosions in Kaohsiung City and inspected the city's emergency response center and the command center at Wu-Chuan Elementary School to get a first-hand understanding of the situation.
To console the injured and other victims, he also visited Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital (KMUH) and Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital.
The premier noted that to date 25 people have died, two have gone missing and 267 have been injured as a result of the explosions. In addition, more than 23,000 households are without gas supply; thousands of households (perhaps even ten thousand or more) are without water and electricity; and some 4.4 kilometers of roads are damaged. The explosions have massively impacted the lives of Kaohsiung residents, and swift reconstruction and rehabilitation are necessary, he said.
After being briefed by Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu, the premier reiterated that the central government will devote all efforts to supporting the city government's needs for the relief effort, whether they are manpower, equipment or facilities. Whatever the central government is capable of supplying will be provided, he promised.
Following the explosions, the Kaohsiung City Government immediately launched a level-1 emergency center, while the Central Emergency Operation Center also activated a level-1 operation, Premier Jiang said. He thanked Mayor Chen for leading her administration in an all-out rescue effort as well as all the personnel that have diligently performed their duties. He then encouraged them to continue to work together and overcome the difficulties ahead.
Jiang said he has directed a task force to investigate into the true cause of the explosions, demanding it to identify the real culprit as soon as possible so that the central and local authorities can jointly discuss an appropriate response strategy. "This is not only to clarify the compensation responsibility for this unfortunate incident, but also to allow better and safer urban planning and arrangement of underground pipe routes. It is important to eliminate the risk of a similar incident occurring in Kaohsiung City in the future. Meanwhile, other cities and counties have to prevent such risks as well," he said.
The premier reiterated that he has demanded related ministries and agencies to meticulously and objectively investigate the incident and identify the true causes so that measures can be put in place to prevent such disasters in the future.
After Premier Jiang arrived at KMUH to visit the injured, he expressed concern about whether the resources and manpower at the local hospitals were sufficient, thanked all personnel at KMUH for their dedication and asked them to throw all their efforts into treatment.
All citizens feel deep regret that this disaster took place, the premier said. He particularly pointed out that of the 16 patients in KMUH's intensive care unit, 11 are rescue or first-aid workers who were gravely injured while doing their duties. Jiang entreated the medical teams tending to the victims to exert all their efforts to bring them out of danger. He also expressed hope that all who are injured will quickly recover and return home.
"These gas explosions have been a great shock for the people of Kaohsiung and the entire nation," Jiang said. "The hearts of all Taiwanese are with those who were affected, and I hope everyone will pray for those who were injured or lost their lives. I also hope that the deep psychological wounds caused by this incident will quickly heal."
As an expression of national solidarity and grief for those who were wounded or lost their lives due to the gas explosions in Kaohsiung last night or the plane crash in Penghu on July 23, public institutions will lower their flags to half-mast August 5-7, the premier stated.
Finally, Jiang reminded citizens to learn from each disaster. Bearing in mind the impact of every disaster on the nation and the family members of the victims, the citizenry should ceaselessly examine these events in order to prevent future tragedies and allow all people to lead peaceful lives, he said.