A total of 524 people were injured in a fire caused by an explosion at a water park party in New Taipei City, Taiwan on Saturday evening, local health authorities announced Sunday.
Most of the victims suffered over 50 percent burns and inhaled large amounts of black carbon dust. Of the number, 194 of them were seriously injured but no deaths have been reported.
Those injured included four from the Chinese mainland, and are being treated at 43 hospitals.
More than 4,500 people attended the party which has been held for three years, wearing swimming trunks, bikinis and cotton T-shirts, reported the Xinhua News Agency.
Preliminary investigation shows that colored powder was sprayed from a CO2 cylinder near the stage in front of about 1,000 people for visual effects, according to Hou Yu-ih, vice-mayor of New Taipei City, who apologized publicly on Sunday morning.
A fireball ensued when the flammable powder hit an unidentified heat source and the flame rose two meters high.
One male witness told news site udn.com.tw that at the beginning he thought it was part of the special effects but he soon realized something was wrong since people started screaming and running in panic and fear.
Eric Chu Li-luan, mayor of New Taipei City, called the tragedy the "worst incident of mass injury in New Taipei." He also ordered a suspension to the use of carbon powder in the city.
The water park was shut down temporarily on Sunday morning. Five people involved in the event were taken away by local police.
Local health authorities have launched a trans-regional emergency rescue mechanism and called for ambulance support from hospitals and health institutions from the regions of Taipei, Taoyuan and Keelung.
Ma Xiaoguang, spokesman for the State Council Taiwan Affairs Office, said mainland authorities have expressed sympathy for the injured compatriots, and hope they could receive timely and proper treatment.
The mainland's Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits (ARATS) has contacted Taiwan's Strait Exchange Foundation (SEF), offering assistance, said the spokesman.
