Taiwan Panasonic Multilayer Materials Factory: Moments before the explosion/The missing employee reported a leak in the MEK storage tank on the 4th floor of Building A

An explosion and fire broke out at Panasonic Multilayer Materials Company in Taiwan early yesterday morning, causing five employees to be injured and sent to hospital, while two people lost contact. The Hsinchu County Government Fire Department stated that there were 25 night shift employees in the factory at the time of the incident. Among them, the two missing male employees surnamed Xu and Jiang were ingredients workers. After the big explosion, they were suspected of not being able to escape quickly and were trapped by the iron sheet of the toppled factory building. After the fire in the factory was generally under control, the fire station brought the excavator to the site at about 4 o'clock yesterday afternoon to demolish the iron sheet factory building and continued to search for the two employees.

After a preliminary investigation, the Hsinchu County Government Fire Department stated that the two missing employees surnamed Jiang and Xu were night shift workers in ingredients. Before the fire, Jiang Nan was the first to discover that the MEK storage tank was overflowing and leaking in the production line on the fourth floor of Building A. He immediately informed his supervisor. When the supervisor and his colleague Xu Nan and others were getting equipment to dispose of on the first floor, a violent explosion occurred instantly and was out of control. Jiang Nan and Xu Nan were unable to escape immediately. The exact cause of the accident still needs further investigation to clarify. The fire in the factory area was basically under control yesterday afternoon, and excavators came in to demolish the iron factory building. However, after nightfall, the search and rescue mission was suspended due to safety considerations.

Fire alarms exploded one after another at the Panasonic factory in Taiwan. The shock wave was so powerful that the glass doors and windows of other companies and many houses around the factory area shattered, the entire door deformed, the light steel frame of the ceiling fell, the elevator malfunctioned, and the floor was covered with glass fragments. Many residents in the nearby Hukou, Xinfeng, Zhubei, and even Taoyuan Xinwu areas were awakened by the loud noise and were still frightened.

An employee of a nearby factory said that he was working on the fifth floor when he suddenly heard a huge explosion. The whole building shook violently. Almost all the glass on the fifth floor was shattered, and even the ceiling almost fell. The level of thrill was evident. The on-site rescue workers said that the factory explosion was so powerful that when they arrived to provide assistance, not only did the iron sheet of the factory collapse, but also employees were thrown into a queue outside the factory. The scene was devastated and shocking.

Chen Zhongzhen, director of the Hsinchu County Fire Department, pointed out that the fire injured five employees, including difficulty breathing, fractures in their right feet, partial abrasions on the body, burns and scalding on the face, etc. All of them were sent to the hospital.

Wu Shujun, head of Hukou Township, said that Panasonic Corporation of Taiwan has promised to take full responsibility for neighborhood damage. The number of damaged households has not yet been determined. In order to speed up the compensation process, the office yesterday invited the affected households to face-to-face explanations of damage compensation related matters. The village chief and local representatives have been asked to assist in taking photos and documents, and will assist in unified compensation claims from the industry.

The Hsinchu County Government has also launched an active service mechanism for occupational accident labor cases. The Labor Department proactively contacts public institutions, injured persons and their families to understand medical, search and rescue and follow-up assistance needs, and assists in handling occupational accident insurance, living assistance and related rights and interests.