World News for Students of English

07-07-2015 07:00

This footage captures the chaotic scenes after a fireball engulfed partygoers at a water park in Taiwan. More than 500 people were injured in the incident, which happened in Taipei on Saturday evening, after revellers who’d gathered for a party were sprayed with coloured powder. The powder is then thought have caught alight causing burns and other injuries to at least 516 people with 180 being taken to intensive care.

Media reported that mainland Chinese and foreigners were among those injured after the fire, where up to 1,000 people had been dancing to music.

In the immediate aftermath of the explosion, rescuers treated hundreds of people, most of them aged between 20 and 30, wearing wet swimsuits and lying on inflatable plastic doughnuts which were used to help carry many of the injured.

No deaths have been reported, but victims of the incident suffered burns to their limbs with some passing out from the pain, while others had burned clothes stuck to their skin and some breathed in the powder, causing respiratory problems.

The blaze, which broke out around 8:30 p.m. local time at the Formosa Fun Coast Water Park on the outskirts of the capital, is suspected to have been caused by an explosion of the coloured powder, which was sprayed onto partygoers. Authorities have now banned the use of the powder until an investigation is completed.

Difficult words: footage (video), chaotic (when everything is happening in a confused way), engulf (to surround), reveller (a person who is enjoying himself or herself), gather (to come), alight (to be on fire), aftermath (the situation after a disaster), respiratory (related to breathing), blaze (a fire), outskirts (the outer parts of a city).

Source: www.ondemandnews.com