Multiple gas explosions took place in Kaohsiung City late Thursday night (July 31). The Executive Yuan was immediately informed of the situation and has since stayed on top of rescue work. At 2 a.m. Friday, Premier Jiang Yi-huah arrived at the Central Emergency Operation Center (CEOC) in Xindian District of New Taipei City, where he was briefed about the disaster response and contacted Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chu to hear about the rescue and response work on the front lines.
Jiang returned to the CEOC at 9 a.m. and was joined by President Ma Ying-jeou for a briefing at 10 a.m. President Ma video-conferenced with Mayor Chen to learn more about the situation and instructed central and local authorities to remain in close contact, devote all efforts to medical, firefighting and police follow-up work, and concentrate personnel and resources on the rescue mission. The government will exert all its energy to respond to this disaster and find the cause of the explosions, he pledged.
The Kaohsiung City Fire Bureau was notified at 8:46 p.m. Thursday of a gas leak coming from the intersection of Kaixuan 3rd Rd. and Ersheng Rd. in Qianzhen (Cianjhen) District. At 11:59 p.m., several explosions and fires erupted over a 2-3 square kilometer area, affecting parts of Kaixuan 3rd Rd., Ersheng Rd., Ruilong Rd., Sanduo 1st Rd. and Gangshan South Rd.
Kaohsiung City promptly activated a local emergency operation center at 12:40 a.m. Friday with Mayor Chen Chu in command. A command center under Fire Bureau Chief Chen Hong-long was established at Wu Chuan Primary School, and eight emergency shelters in the area took in 1,152 affected residents.
The CEOC was activated at 1 a.m. under the command of Interior Minister Chen Wei-zen. Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch reported at 1:45 a.m. to direct CEOC operations, and Premier Jiang Yi-huah arrived 2:15 a.m.
As of 9:30 a.m. Friday, 24 people had been killed (including four police officers and volunteer firefighters), 259 injured (including 22 police and firefighters and five members of the Environmental Protection Administration's toxic disaster emergency response teams), and three were missing. The fire departments are presently putting out one remaining fire in the area.
Officials have not yet been able to determine the cause of the gas leaks. The Hsin Kao Gas Co., which operates in the affected area, confirmed that none of its natural gas pipes had exploded and has closed off all nearby pipes. Currently, 23,600 households without gas, 7,536 without electricity (down from 12,256 earlier), 8,000 without water, and three CPC Corp. gas stations have been closed. The Ministry of Justice has instructed the Kaohsiung District Prosecutors Office to dispatch over 100 local prosecutors to inspect the blasts, with more to be sent as needed.
A total of 1,649 emergency workers and 324 vehicles are currently at the scenes performing rescue work, including 118 firefighters and 44 vehicles from the Kaohsiung City Fire Bureau. Also dispatched by the CEOC were 15 personnel and six vehicles from the Kaohsiung Harbor Fire Brigade, 12 personnel and four vehicles from the National Fire Agency's special search and rescue team, 1,439 soldiers and 125 vehicles from the ROC Army, and 11 members of the Environmental Protection Administration's toxic disaster emergency response teams. Fourty-five firefighters and 22 fire trucks have been sent from the Tainan City Fire Bureau, and nine firefighters and four fire trucks from the Pingtung County Fire Bureau.
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) completed setting up a coordination center at the Fengshan Industrial Park, Kaohsiung City at 7:30 a.m., where Yang Po-keng, deputy director of the export-processing zone management, is coordinating central government resources and compiling latest updates back to the MOEA. Related ministries and agencies were also asked to station personnel at the center to help with the rescue work.