Week three:八仙塵爆

Taiwan Water Park Blaze: More Than 500 Injured in Formosa Fun Coast Fire

by REUTERS

JUN 28 2015, 3:58 AM ET

TAIPEI — The number of people injured in a fire at a Taiwan water amusement park rose to 516 on Sunday, government officials said, with more than 180 still in intensive care.

Media reported four mainland Chinese and two foreigners were among those injured after Saturday's fire, during a party where up to 1,000 revelers were sprayed with colored powder as they danced to music, seeking to escape the summer heat.

The blaze, which broke out around 8:30 p.m. at the Formosa Fun Coast water park on the outskirts of the capital, Taipei, is suspected to have been caused by an explosion of the powder, local government official Lin Chieh-yu told Reuters.

"It remains under investigation as to what made the powder explode," he added. Authorities have banned the use of the powder until the investigation is completed.

"The next few days will be a critical time for the injured," Taiwan Premier Mao Chi-kuo told reporters, adding that 410 people were still in hospital on Sunday, with 194 being treated for serious injuries.

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. Television showed images of people running from sky-high flames.

"There was blood and people were on fire," one injured man said.

No death has yet been reported, but victims of the incident suffered burns to the limbs, with some passing out from the pain while others had burned clothes stuck to their skin, media reports and pictures showed.

"She is young. A student," sobbed the father of an 18-year-old girl with burns on 80 percent of her body, according to television footage.

Soldiers, army vehicles and medical services joined the rescue effort, while hospitals in four municipal precincts, along with Taipei, are treating sufferers.

"We are very sorry about what happened and we will investigate the cause to find out who is responsible," Eric Chu, the mayor of New Taipei City, where the park is located, said on Saturday, adding that it had been ordered to shut down.

The amusement park has been closed temporarily, it said on its website on Sunday. Taipei has sweltered in temperatures exceeding 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees Fahrenheit) in recent weeks.

http://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/tally-injured-rises-more-500-after-taiwan-water-park-fire-n383226

Structure of the Lead：

• Who: The number of people
• When: Sunday
• Why: not given
• How: not given
• Where: Taipei in Taiwan
• What: injured in a fire at a Taiwan water amusement park rose to 516

Vocabulary:

intensive(adj.) 加強的

reveler(n.) 狂歡者

spray(v.) 噴射；掃射

outskirt(n.) 郊區

suspect(v.) 懷疑

Reuters(n.) 路透社

aftermath(n.) 災後時期

inflatable(adj.) 可充氣的

limb(n.) 臂

footage(n.) 英尺長度

municipal(adj.) 市政的

precinct(n.)管轄區域

temporarily(adv.) 暫時地

swelter(v.) 熱得難受

exceed(v.) 超過

Week two:國小女童遭殺害

Man slices 8-year-old schoolgirl's throat

By Chi-hao James Lo ,The China Post
May 30, 2015, 12:00 am TWN

TAIPEI, Taiwan -- An 8-year-old school girl surnamed Liu yesterday sustained a severe injury to her neck when a 29 year-old man named Kung Chung-an (龔重安) assaulted her with a knife within the premises of the victim's school, yesterday.

The assault took place at around 4:30 p.m. after classes ended at Taipei Municipal Beitou District Wenhua Elementary School (臺北市北投區文化國民小學), yesterday.

Reportedly, Liu had stayed after school hours to participate in extracurricular music activities.

According to the victim's club instructor, Liu had left practice to go to the bathroom without notifying instructors.

After leaving the classroom, Liu was targeted by Kung, who had entered school grounds without authorization. Kung then allegedly tailed the victim to a restroom located on the fourth floor of the school, where he slashed the victim's throat twice with a fruit knife he had brought from his home.

The victim was reportedly found by chance when girls from the school reported the incident to school officials after seeing blood coming from under the bathroom door.

The victim was rushed to the Taipei Veterans General Hospital (台北榮總), though at 5:05 p.m. she showed no signs of life.

Doctors, however, were able to get her heart started again, though the victim remains in a comatose state, with possible brain damage.

Doctors who worked to save Liu told local press that the victim sustained at least one 10-centimeter cut to her throat. Liu's doctors also said that her trachea, neck artery and neck muscles were severed due to the savage nature of the attack.

Reconstructive surgery to treat Liu's heavy wounds were completed after three hours, and her vital signs showed signs of stabilizing. However, doctors said that Liu is not yet out of danger, with the severity of her coma unknown due to the large amount of anesthetics being administered.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/local/taipei/2015/05/30/437219/p1/Man-slices.htm

• Who: Kung Chung-an
• When:  yesterday
• Why:Not given
• What:sustained a severe injury to her neck
• Where:victim's school
• How:assulted her with a knife

Vocabulary
surname(v.) 以姓名稱呼

sustain(v.) 承受premise(n.) 場地

extracurricular(adj.)課外的

target(v.) 以...對象

authorization(n.) 授權

allegedly(adv.)據稱

slash(v.)砍

comatose(adj.)昏迷狀態

trachea(n.)氣管

artery(n.)動脈

savage(adj.)殘酷的

reconstructive(adj.)重建的

stabilize(v,) 使穩定

severity(n.) 嚴謹

coma(n.)昏迷

anesthetic(n.) 麻醉藥

administer(v.) 執行