Taichung City

Taichung City recycling plant fire causes pollution, takes 19 hours to extinguish

smoke from fire seen from a distance
Fire 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

A fire at a recycling plant in Taichung City created a plume of thick, black smoke that could be seen up to 40 kilometers away yesterday, and was finally extinguished by firefighters this morning after a 19-hour-long battle. The Taichung City Fire Bureau received reports of a fire at a recycling plant on Wunan Road, Wuqi District at around 2:40 pm yesterday. Nineteen firetrucks and 39 firefighters were immediately dispatched to battle the blaze. Piles of plastic pellets and other

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Witness says metro train was stopped when crane fell onto tracks: train then drove into it

Taichung City Mayor Lu Shiow-yen
Disaster 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , ,

A Canadian man who was aboard a Taichung metro train when one person was killed, and eight were injured in an accident, Wednesday, May 10, says that the train was stopped at a station when the crane boom fell onto the tracks. The man, who is unnamed in media reports, and described as a foreign English teacher, gave a doorstop interview as he stepped out of a hospital where he was treated for an abrasion to his head suffered when,

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1 passenger dead, 8 injured after construction crane collapses, hits MRT train in Taichung City

composite image of damaged train and collapsed crane
Health and Safety 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

One person died at the scene, and eight people were injured, after a crane from the top of a 30-storey building under construction collapsed onto an elevated section of Taichung’s MRT system, hitting a moving train. According to reports, the crane collapse happened at 12:25 pm near the Feng-le Park Station on Wenxin Road in Nantun District. Pictures from the scene showed the front of a metro train and the interior of a train compartment badly damaged. Taichung City Fire

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2 killed, Tesla disintegrates in high-speed drunk driving crash on Taichung City expressway

Aftermath of high-speed drunk driving crash in Taichung City
Traffic Accidents 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

A driver with a blood alcohol level almost three times over the legal limit was one of two men who died at the scene of the accident after a Tesla slammed into a concrete Jersey barrier on an expressway in Taichung City early Sunday morning, May 7. Taichung City Fire Bureau responded to reports of the crash at an offramp of Expressway 74 in Xitun District at 5:48 am. Firefighters and paramedics found the vehicle had completely disintegrated due to

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Heavy rain brings landslides, flooding to parts of Taiwan

A college student is helped by guard after losing footing on flooded road
Weather 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , , ,

Heavy rain brought by a frontal system pounded northern and central parts of Taiwan from late Wednesday (April 10) to early Thursday (April 20), causing landslides in some mountain districts, and flooding in low lying areas. In Miaoli County’s Dahu Township, a man escaped with slight injuries after his car was hit by rocks that fell onto County Road 62 at 6:20 am. Police responding to reports of the accident found the car partially crushed and the driver, named Zhang

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Police seize submachine gun in Taichung City

Škorpion vz. 61 submachine gun
Crime and Criminals 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , ,

A man in Taichung City has been charged for offenses under the Control of Guns, Ammunition, and Knives Act after police found a Czech-made submachine gun in his possession. Taichung City Police Department Criminal investigation Corps said that during a drug trafficking investigation they had received information that a man named Ho was armed with a submachine gun. Police obtained a search warrant and pulled Ho’s vehicle over on Chaoma Road in Xitun District. A search of Ho’s car turned

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Driver crashes into traffic sign then continues driving with sign stuck on car

composite image showing car driven with road sign stuck to it
Traffic Accidents 
Phillip Charlier 1 Comment , ,

Road users in Taichung City and Changhua County were stunned to see a car being driven on an expressway with a traffic divider sign mounted on the hood earlier this week, and a man went to a police station today to explain what had happened after seeing the story reported on TV news. Multiple drivers uploaded video footage to social media of an SUV on Provincial Highway 74 heading southbound with the traffic divider stuck to the front of the

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1 dead, 4 injured in 6-truck pile-up on West Coast Expressway

trucks piled up on expressway 61
Traffic Accidents 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

One person died and four were left injured after a semi-trailer hit a road construction vehicle then plowed into five other trucks on the West Coast Expressway (Provincial Highway 61) in Taichung City this morning, May 4. Taichung City Fire Bureau received a report at 10:23 am that a number of vehicles were involved in a traffic accident at the 150.9 kilometer mark in the northbound lanes of the expressway in Qingshui District, and that two people were trapped in

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2 police “shooting at the tires” incidents leave 3 injured

composite image of two shooting incidents
Crime and Criminals 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , , ,

Police officers discharged firearms in separate incidents in New Taipei City and Taichung City in the last two days, and three people were injured by police bullets. At around 11:00 pm Thursday, March 10, police in Zhonghe District, New Taipei City, attempted to pull over a driver of a silver Mercedes Benz bearing a false license plate. The 22-year-old driver, named Lin, sped up and attempted to escape. A chase ensued for around twenty minutes until the car, containing three

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Multiple fatalities after residents trapped in apartment building fire: one man survives fall from 6th floor

composite image showing building on fire and people trapped on awning
Fire 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

Six people are confirmed dead, and seven were injured, after a fire in a residential building in Taichung City this afternoon, Sunday, March 6. Taichung City Fire Department dispatched 22 vehicles and 85 personnel from eight fire stations after receiving reports of a fire in a 7 storey building on Xingzhong Street in Central District at 4:30 pm. Dramatic scenes unfolded as two men and one woman escaped from an apartment on the 7th floor and stood precariously on a

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1 dead, 1 seriously injured after speeding car slams into military truck

composite image of car and truck after crash
Traffic Accidents 
Phillip Charlier 0 Comment , ,

One man died and another was seriously injured after a civilian car crashed into the back of an army truck on combat readiness exercises in Taichung City this morning, February 24. Taichung City Fire Bureau received a report of a serious traffic accident on Huanhe Road in Dali District at 4:52 am. Two ambulances and two fire trucks were dispatched to the scene of the crash. Firefighters found two men who had been thrown out of a white Ford sedan

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