The lone reported Singaporean who was injured in a water park fire in Taiwan has been flown back to the country via an international SOS flight and is now at Singapore General Hospital.
“A SingHealth spokesperson confirmed that Ms Loy was sent to SGH this morning, but declined to reveal the patient’s condition as the family has requested for privacy,” reports Channel NewsAsia.
This even as a 20-year-old partygoer died Monday after suffering 90 percent burns.
She is the first fatality from the disaster, which saw crowds of young revellers engulfed in flames after being sprayed with clouds of multi-coloured corn starch.
The company which produced the starch said users had been warned of a potential fire hazard.
Around 1,000 spectators had attended the Color Play Asia event at the Formosa Fun Coast water park, just outside the capital Taipei, on Saturday evening.
More than 200 suffered serious injuries and are being treated across 43 hospitals.
Meanwhile, three suspects were released on bail late Sunday as prosecutors investigate them on charges of offences against public safety and negligence causing severe injuries.
They could face three years in prison for those charges, but that could be raised to five years now that a victim has died.
The suspects include the owner of Color Play Asia Lu Chung-chi, 41, who knelt in apology as he was bailed late Sunday. Hardware equipment technician Chiu Po-ming, 33, and special effects worker Liao Chun-ming, 39, were also released on bail.
Two others were released without bail, but are currently barred from leaving Taiwan.
While it has yet to emerge exactly how the blast was triggered, authorities have speculated that heat from the stage lighting or cigarettes could have ignited the corn starch.
When asked by reporters why people had been allowed to smoke at the event, Color Play Asia’s Lu said: “There were too many people smoking at the scene, there was just no way to stop it.”
General manager of the water park Chen Hui-ying said the venue had “never heard such an activity could be dangerous”, but the company that supplied the corn starch to Color Play Asia warned of its flammability.
It added that warnings were printed on the bags of corn starch asking users to wear goggles, warning of flammability and banning its use in an closed space.
“We feel hurt for the young people. We’ve stopped selling and producing such powder in line with the government ban,” Chou Hui-fang, vice president of the company, told AFP.
Chen said Monday that the water park planned to set up a Tw$100 million ($3.2 million) fund to help the injured. With an AFP report.
Photo: Reuters
