By KHT Staff
TAINAN — Waste found at the site of a fire and series of explosions that injured 15 people in Annan District (安南區) has been traced to a company registered in Kaohsiung, whose owner is reportedly wanted in a separate fraud case and left Taiwan on June 30, according to a CTi News report citing local environmental authorities.
The fire was reported at 1:12 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 22, at an open lot near Section 2 of Haidian Road (海佃路二段). Several explosions occurred about 90 minutes later, and the fire was extinguished at 5:20 a.m.
Fifteen people, including three firefighters, were injured. Eleven homes sustained fire damage, 57 other homes were affected by the explosions, and 22 firefighting or private vehicles were damaged, according to Public Television Service.
Tainan officials said the lot contained illegally deposited business waste, including aluminum-magnesium alloys and waste oil.
CTi News reported that environmental investigators traced the waste to a company registered in Kaohsiung’s Gushan District (鼓山區). The company head, identified only by the surname Wang, allegedly had a man surnamed Yang arrange access to the lot through a local borough chief. The chief said he had not been told that metal waste would be stored there.
Kaohsiung environmental officials visited the company’s registered address and found a hair salon operating there, the report said. Wang was reportedly a former tenant who had used the address to register the business but no longer held a lease.
The report said the Tainan District Prosecutors Office had issued a warrant for Wang in an unrelated fraud case and that travel records showed he left Taiwan on June 30. His current location is unknown. KHT could not independently confirm the warrant or travel details through a publicly available prosecutor notice.
Ross Feingold, a Taipei-based lawyer and Kaohsiung Times contributor, noted in a post on X that cases such as these are far from unheard of in Taiwan.
This is starting to sound like a scandal we see too often here in #Taiwan. Politicians doing business with criminals, illegal activities in waste management / recycling, municipal agencies that seem unaware of an illegal dump site, and a criminal who easily departed Taiwan.
Ross D. Feingold
Authorities are investigating possible violations of the Waste Disposal Act and offenses involving public danger.
Sources: CTi News, Public Television Service and United Daily News
