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Gas blast in Taiwan kills 25, injures 267, topples buildings

World News

01-08-2014 | 01:53

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Gas blast in Taiwan kills 25, injures 267, topples buildings

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A series of explosions caused by a gas leak killed 25 people and injured 267 in Taiwan's second city on Friday (August 1), sending flames shooting 15 floors into the air, setting ablaze entire blocks and reducing small shops to rubble.

Rescue authorities said police and soldiers had been drafted in to help firefighters after the midnight explosion and blaze gutted a district in the port city of Kaohsiung packed with shops and apartment buildings.

Four firefighters were among the dead. Media reports suggested the death toll was likely to rise sharply.

The blast sent flames racing through the district and smoke billowing high into the air. Flames shot up from sewers and gutters and water from burst mains gushed through the streets.

Residents said the blast shook buildings as if there had been an earthquake, toppling small shops and overturning cars.

A woman said her building was among those demolished, "My roof suddenly disappeared. Everything was destroyed."

Rescuers formed a chain to pull dozens of injured from a vast crater in the street and picked their way through piles of rubble as they ferried the injured away on stretchers.

Those overcome by smoke were resuscitated in the street.

"Of course this is very ridiculous. I also think it's unfathomable. Since the gas leak started causing explosions, it's already been three hours. It's as if the government has done nothing," said a relative of a victim.

The body of a motorcyclist lay covered by a sheet next to his battered vehicle and another body had been placed on a slab of concrete next to piles of debris.

Kaohsiung authorities set up an emergency centre to be staffed by servicemen coordinating the rescue operation.

REUTERS

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