By KHT Staff
TAINAN — A court approved the detention of three people, including a neighborhood chief (里長), as prosecutors investigate suspected illegal waste dumping linked to an explosion in Annan District (安南區), the United Daily News reported Monday.
The Tainan District Prosecutors Office said investigators directed police to take the three into custody Sunday, Aug. 23. Prosecutors sought their detention early Monday on suspicion of public-endangerment offenses and violations of the Waste Disposal Act.
Prosecutors argued that the suspects could collude, destroy evidence or flee. The court approved detention with restrictions on outside communication. The measures are part of a pretrial investigation and do not establish guilt.
One suspect, a 30-year-old surnamed Yang (楊), told investigators that a 43-year-old business operator surnamed Wang (王) asked him to rent the vacant lot and help transport materials there. Yang said he did not know what the materials contained and claimed the neighborhood chief had approved their storage.
The neighborhood chief denied knowing about the dumping and said Yang had secretly placed the materials on the site. A third alleged accomplice, surnamed Gong (龔), was also detained. Prosecutors said the investigation was continuing.
Investigators suspect that Wang directed the placement of waste at the lot. Police said he flew to Vietnam in late June and was separately placed on a wanted list in early July due to a fraud case. Authorities said Wang will be arrested if he returns to Taiwan.
The fire was reported at 1:12 a.m. Saturday, Aug. 22, at a vacant lot on Haidian Road Section 2 (海佃路二段), according to a Tainan City Government statement. Suspected waste oil drums, aluminum, magnesium and other discarded materials were stored at the site.
A powerful explosion occurred during firefighting operations. Fifteen people, including three firefighters, were injured. Thirteen private vehicles, eight fire engines, one ambulance and two disaster-assessment vehicles were damaged.
The city later said 11 homes were severely damaged and temporarily uninhabitable, while 102 households suffered varying degrees of smoke or blast damage.
The cause of the fire and explosion had not been established as of Monday. Fire investigators were examining whether water-reactive aluminum or magnesium materials heated after contact with rainwater or whether another factor caused the incident.
