Two workers dead in fire at textile factory in northern Taiwan

北台灣紡織廠火災，兩名工人死亡

Chemical fire, explosion reported at Chung Shing Textile Factory in Taoyuan's Yangmei District


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A fire broke out at a textile factory in Taoyuan’s Yangmei District on Sunday (July 2) shortly after 9 a.m. in the morning, taking the lives of two workers.

The Taoyuan Fire Department was alerted to a fire at the Chung Shing Textile Factory at 9:39 a.m. Reports indicate that four contractors were caught in a fire that started on the fourth floor and was likely caused by chemical fumes ignited by a cigarette, per UDN.

The Fire Department received a large number of 119 calls and dispatched 28 vehicles and 84 firefighters to extinguish the blaze. Although the initial blaze was mostly under control by noon, an explosion on the sixth floor of the building was reported around 1 p.m. while firefighters were still on site.

One of the workers was able to escape the building unharmed. However, two of the trapped workers were found by firefighters at 11:30 a.m. with no vital signs near the entrance to the sixth floor of the facility.

The victims, two men, aged 64, were rushed to a nearby hospital but could not be revived. Both reportedly suffered from minor burns, but ultimately died of cardiac arrest, while the fourth worker present is being treated for minor injuries.

Although the factory was closed on Sunday, the contractors were performing annual maintenance of the building’s furnace, which is located on the fifth floor. There were no further injuries reported after the subsequent explosion in the early afternoon, per UDN.