Kaohsiung Gas Explosion

Three hours before the midnight of July 31, 2014, the Fire department of Kaohsiung city (The second largest city of Taiwan) received an emergency call to report a gas-leaking case. Five minutes later the fire trucks arrived, and found white smoke kept rising up from several drain ditch covers, strong and unpleasant odor filled the air, the Fire department judged as leaking of flammable gas; so they sealed several blocks, restrained surrounding traffic, and tried to dilute the gas by spreading water, and call for EPA's (Environmental Protection Administration) emergent assistance in the meantime, to identify the substance to cool down the temperature with proper procedure…Unfortunately, a series of gas blasts started just before midnight, huge fireballs soaring in the air that the flams even flung a car to the roof of a 3-story building. The pipeline-blast tore trenches under several main roads as long as 6 kilo-meters, and the cratered streets swallowed cars and trucks… that killed 30 people and injured over 300, which left a trail of devastation in the city.

The SCADA System for pipelines.

English: A New Gas Pipeline. The edge of this past...

English: Pigging device for inside cleaning porpos...

After investigations, the explosions were caused by the leak of some 10 tones of propylene gas pipeline into the ground, that a petrochemical company transmit between 2 firms with underground pipeline through main streets of the city for over 30 years, which means those dense underground pipelines were installed even earlier than the area was developed or the residents moved in.

I felt my heart was ripped when I first saw the news, watching the devastated scenes on TV shocked me tremendously. As soon as I found Sendai city was on the list of early donators, I was deeply moved and drawn to the memory of 311 Earthquake that we were all sadden for our friends.

I had never realized that human lives...