Taiwan leader Ma Ying-jeou offers words of comfort to a recuperating patient at a hospital in Taipei yesterday following a fire at a water park that injured hundreds of partygoers. An investigation is under way as to why colored powder sprayed on revellers ignited with devastating results. — AFP
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 http://www.thecowboysgearshop.com/Cowbo … ft-Jersey/ , 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.”
by Huang Xiaonan and Xie Binbin
REYKJAVIK, June 23 (Xinhua) -- Nearly 3,000 Icelandic people came out of home to the bright streets on Tuesday night for a run under the midnight sun in this world's northernmost capital city of Iceland.
As Iceland's most spectacular natural phenomenon, the midnight sun is creating stunning skies and endless days during summer and bringing the longest day and the shortest night in the summer solstice.
The 2015 Suzuki Midnight Sun Run, one of the events held to celebrate the summer solstice across Iceland, takes place for the 23rd time while people can join in either of the three distances - half marathon, 10km, and 5km races.
Iceland's marathon runner Kari Steinn Karlsson won the first place of men's group, finishing the half marathon of 21.1 km with a time of one hour 12 minutes 48 seconds. He told Xinhua that he was just enjoying the race under the midnight sun.
"It was great. Great conditions and it was calm weather and the temperature was perfect. It was good to see the midnight sun, unfortunately it was a bit too cloudy, but still it was a perfect evening and I felt great," he said.
"It's definitely a different feeling running and it's still bright outside and it's so late. It gives you extra energy. It's a different kind of experience. I really enjoy it," he added.
For women runner Arna Ir Gunnarsdottir, running under the midnight sun was just to make up for the losses of time in the long and dark winter in Iceland.
"It's very nice. We like when the sun doesn't go down. We like when it's bright the whole night. And we like to use that time to do something different because it's dark almost all winter. So we like to use it quite well and it's very good to run in this good weather and when the time is so much in the evening, so it's quite nice," she said.
Describing the midnight sun run as a unique experience, Thora Rose Gudbjartsdottir said she enjoyed the colorful nature along the route.
"It's awesome. While we were running, we saw the sky was pink. It's really nice. It doesn't feel like midnight, it feels like a day," she said.
Svava Asgeirsdottir from the Reykjavik Marathon is the race manager of the Suzuki Midnight Sun Run. She told Xinhua they organized the event of this kind to make the best use of the valuable summer time.
"The midnight sun is something very special in Iceland because we have a very short summer. We have 3-month summer and 9-month winter and in winter the day is very short. It is only four, five hours and then. Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Wholesale NCAA Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys From China Jerseys From China MLB Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Free Shipping NFL Jerseys Free Shipping NBA Jerseys Free Shipping
