Screams as ball of fire engulfs park partygoers
Print Edition
ONE witness described the scene at a Taiwan water park as like something from hell after a ball of fire ripped through a crowd on Saturday, with authorities putting the toll of injured at nearly 500.
The number of those injured in the blast, which came as colored powder being sprayed on partygoers ignited, more than doubled as officials began to track down victims who had taken themselves to hospital or been ferried there by others.
Amateur video footage showed crowds of young revellers dancing in front of a stage and cheering as clouds of green and yellow powder covered them at the “color party.”
But their joy turned to terror when the powder suddenly erupted into flames engulfing them in an inferno as they ran screaming for their lives.
Some were dressed only in swimwear and images from the scene show many with severe burns being tended to by those who escaped. One male student who sustained minor injuries said the scene was like something from “hell.”
“There was blood everywhere, including in the pool where lots of the injured were soaking themselves for relief from the pain,” he told reporters.
His visibly shaken girlfriend added: “I saw lots of people whose skin was gone.”
Ambulances struggled to reach the scene, and victims were carried away on rubber rings and inflatable dinghies as friends desperately tried to get them out. Bystanders poured bottles of water on the scorched skin of the injured. There were trails of bloody footprints leading away from the stage.
Around 1,000 spectators were at the Color Play Asia event at the Formosa Fun Coast water park, according to officials.
One male witness told local news channel CTI: “It started on the left side of the stage. At the beginning I thought it was part of the special effects of the party but then I realized there was something wrong and people started screaming and running.”
Lee Lih-jong, deputy chief of New Taipei City’s health bureau, said: “The reason why the burns were so severe was that in addition to burns to the skin, there were also injuries caused by burns to the respiratory organs from the large amount of color powder inhaled. The next 24 hours will be critical for those severely injured.”
The water park issued a statement yesterday saying it was “deeply saddened” and would be cooperating with an ongoing investigation. General manager Chen Hui-ying told reporters that all partygoers had been insured but did not say to what amount.
“Throwing colored corn starch around ... we had never heard such an activity could be dangerous,” she said.
Lee said details of the ages of the victims were not yet available, “but all looked very young, in their 20s or even younger.”
A spokesman for the New Taipei City fire department said: “Our initial understanding is this explosion and fire was caused by the powder spray. It could have been due to the heat of the lights on the stage.”
Deputy fire chief Chen Chung-yueh said yesterday the blast may have been caused by “sparks from machinery or lighting equipment.”
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