Death toll reaches 9 at golf ball factory fire in southern Taiwan

南台灣高爾夫球廠大火死亡人數已達9人

Firefighters begin search for missing people on Sunday


TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A fire at a golf ball factory at Pingtung Technology Industrial Park killed at least nine people, and injured 98, while there is still one person missing, as of Sunday (Sept. 24).

As firefighters were finally able to search the factory for missing people on Sunday, one body was found at 6:16 a.m. and another body was found at 7:35 a.m., bringing the total number of deaths to nine. Four firefighters are among the deceased, as the fire caused an explosion after they entered the building, per UDN.

The fire started on Friday (Sept. 22) evening, and it was not subdued until 22 hours later. Due to the large amount of chemicals used within the factory, the fire was followed by a sudden explosion.

Pingtung County Magistrate Chou Chun-mi (周春米) said firefighters did not spray water on the fire, as was reported earlier, and instead used a dry fire retardant, and they were not responsible for any secondary explosion after arriving at the facility. The deaths of four firefighters have received an outpouring of condolences and calls for accountability.

Tamkang University Dean of the College of Global Development Bao Zheng-hao (包正豪) said the firefighters are victims since they are often on the front lines. He pointed out the dangerous situation they faced, and that their superiors might not have had a good understanding of the conditions inside the factory.

Pintung County Fire Chief Hsu Mei-hsueh (許美雪) was criticized for initially misstating the cause of the explosion. The Pingtung County Government said it was busy providing disaster relief and would later address any potential errors in its response.