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Taiwan water park blast claims second death

TAIPEI — A second person died from his injuries today (Jul 2) in the aftermath of a fireball explosion at a Taiwan water park, according to the Central News Agency.

In this screen grab taken from UGC by Apple Daily Taiwan, concert goers run as a fire starts at the Formosa Water Park in New Taipei City, Taiwan, Saturday, June 27, 2015. Photo: AP

In this screen grab taken from UGC by Apple Daily Taiwan, concert goers run as a fire starts at the Formosa Water Park in New Taipei City, Taiwan, Saturday, June 27, 2015. Photo: AP

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TAIPEI — A second person died from his injuries today (Jul 2) in the aftermath of a fireball explosion at a Taiwan water park, according to the Central News Agency.

Liu Chih-Wei, a 19-year-old student, suffered 99 per cent burns in the incident which took place on Saturday evening.

He is the second fatality from the disaster, which saw crowds of young revellers engulfed in flames after being sprayed with clouds of multi-coloured corn starch. Around 1,000 spectators had attended the Color Play Asia event at the Formosa Fun Coast water park, just outside the capital Taipei. More than 200 suffered serious injuries and are being treated across 43 hospitals.

On Monday, a 20-year-old partygoer died after suffering 90 per cent burns from the fireball that injured nearly 500 people in total, with organisers facing charges after plumes of decorative powder ignited.

The company which produced the starch said users had been warned of a potential fire hazard. While it has yet to emerge exactly how the blast was triggered, authorities have speculated that heat from the stage lighting or cigarettes could have ignited the corn starch.

When asked by reporters why people had been allowed to smoke at the event, Color Play Asia’s Lu said: “There were too many people smoking at the scene, there was just no way to stop it.”

Investigations revealed that the area in front of the stage could only accommodate 600 people, reported Apple Daily. But more than a thousand spectators were present when the blast took place.

When the fireball erupted, most of the people at the scene could only evacuate through a single gantry at the venue, Apple Daily added. CHANNEL NEWSASIA

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