Tainan pesticide plant blaze forces thousands to evacuate
1 of 1
DSM-AGI Corporation's Shin Hua plant in Tainan, a chemical company producing pesticides, caught fire yesterday morning, injuring eight people and forcing thousands of residents to evacuate, including staff and patients hospitalized in the nearby Tainan Hospital Shin Hua branch.
To protect people from the toxic substances that might leak out or be released from the fire, the “Tainan government”has already temporarily shut off the hospital and neighboring agricultural refinement factories, evacuated the patients in the hospital and also approximately 1500 residents living in Yang Lin, Na Ba and Chiao Keng villages.
Eight workers were injured in the blaze. “The director of the Environmental Protection Bureau Chang Huang-chen”said that the fire might have caused a xylene leakage, a solvent not considerd highly toxic to humans. Chang also said that the firefighters were trying their best to extinguish the fire before it spreads to the toxic substance section.
