Whoah, maybe a gas explosion in Taichung’s Shin Kong Mitsukoshi department store. 1 woman not breathing or heartbeat at the scene was rushed to the hospital. Apparently could be heard from a few kilometers away. Apparently happened on the 11th/12th floor which is where the food court is and there was some renovation going on.
Around 11:30 AM today, a gas explosion was reported at the Shin Kong Mitsukoshi Department Store in Taichung City. Windows on multiple floors were shattered, and the scene resembled that of a bombed-out area, with devastation everywhere. Firefighters have rushed to the scene, and it remains to be determined whether there were any casualties and what caused the incident.
UPDATE: One woman confirmed dead
Holy shit!
One dead? If they’re lucky.
Apologies, corrected to no breathing or heartbeat at the scene. She was rushed to the hospital. Hopefully she makes it.
Edit:
Video on threads showing all the debris on the road and sidewalk. A couple of people are down on the sidewalk.
Dashcam video that caught the explosion camera.
And for a moment I thought it was the Taipei one.
Hope not too many casualties.
Videos flooding social media. It keeps looking worse and worse…
Yep here’s one from a dashcam
Videos on Threads from someone who was in the building.
In her post she said she was on the 11th floor and there was renovation going on on the 12th floor.
Yes. Horrific injuries and casualty count rising. 
People were thrown out of the building. Horrible
Compilation of a couple clips here, with last part showing the inside.
Taichung city already issued a notice through their Line account to avoid the area as to not impede rescue efforts. Currently the outer/slow traffic lane is closed off as well as the sidewalk.
I’m guessing it could have been preventable.
I wonder do the gas leaks usually occur at the burner or the tank?
Not normally the tank itself but the valve, can also be the hose deteriorated and the gas escaping or a bad connection.
I mean it may not be a leak as such, just some one caught the burner and turned the gas on accidentally.
Four people thrown out of the building:
Details of some of the injured:
The Fire Department said that eight people have been sent to the Zhonggang Cheng Ching Hospital for emergency treatment, five of whom are from Macau and are suspected to be relatives and friends who came to Taiwan for tourism. One of them, a 58-year-old woman named Lu, died of her injuries. A 2-year-old girl surnamed Deng was seriously injured and intubated and transferred to Taichung Veterans General Hospital. A 24-year-old man surnamed Deng suffered facial lacerations, and a 30-year-old man surnamed Deng and a 31-year-old woman surnamed Ye suffered abrasions and contusions on their hands and feet. The above five people are all from Macau and are suspected to be relatives or friends traveling to Taiwan.
Calling it now, probably started by some ah bei smoking where he shouldn’t have been.
My little two burner has a safety where to press it down to get gas it also engages the ignitor. Probably not 100% foolproof but if you manage to turn it without the ignitor, gas does not come out. I think it’s probably about 10 year old model.
these explosions are always horrific, this one especially so
Would there be a burner there, construction worker cooking lunch? It is be being renovated, more like gas for welding or other equipment.
that’s what I was thinking too but it was mentioned about foodcourts being the location. Not sure.
