13 injured in warehouse explosion

The injured, who are all residents of a village in Minsyong township, were rushed to two separate hospitals for treatment. Doctors said their lives were not in danger because most of the cuts and burns they had received were superficial wounds.

Two of the victims — Liu Chien-hin, 53, and Liu Hsiao-yu, 74 — each suffered a broken hand.

The explosion, which occurred shortly before 4 a.m. and sent a shock wave across the whole village, also caused a fire in the warehouse. Firemen dispatched by the Chiayi County Fire Bureau fought for about 40 minutes to put out the blaze.

Some residents said that they saw smoke belching from the warehouse, and that they thought a short circuit had started a fire in the structure.

As they approached the warehouse to investigate, the smoke became so heavy that they had to retreat, and as the explosion occurred a few minutes later, they realized how lucky they were to have escaped bodily harm, they said.

Local police said they were trying to locate the owner of the warehouse. Assisted by firemen, the police were sifting through the rubble at the scene of the fire in an attempt to discover how the explosion occurred. They also wanted to know why and for how long the warehouse had been used to store firecrackers, and how much stock was in it.

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