2 dead, 3 injured in Yunlin scaffolding collapse

Taipei, July 6 (CNA) Two people were killed and three injured when scaffolding collapsed at a building site in Yunlin County Saturday, with construction work ordered stopped.

The deadly scaffolding collapse occurred at a Formosa Advanced Technologies Co. building site in Douliu, Yunlin on Saturday afternoon. An investigation is needed to determine the cause of the accident.

The company later expressed sorrow over the casualties, saying that it will give its utmost to assist with the follow-up matters.

Yunlin's fire department received a call about the incident around 4 p.m. After arriving on site, they found the scaffolding for the tech company's new factory partially collapsed, trapping more than a dozen workers.

Eleven fire rescue vehicles and 38 firefighters were dispatched.

The department said one 40-year-old male and a 45-year-old female had OHCA (Out-of-hospital cardiac arrest) when the rescue teams arrived and were declared dead after being taken to hospital.

The three injured, all women in their 40s, were taken to another hospital where they received treatment for head trauma, it added.

According to Yunlin fire department, 15 people were trapped as a result of the falling scaffolding, of which five were rushed to hospital and 10 did not require treatment.

Heavy rain and strong winds were seen in a video clip provided by local residents who recorded the collapse, but the cause of the accident has not yet been confirmed.

Yunlin County government ordered construction halted immediately.

The company said the incident did not cause any major impact to its operations as the new factory was still under construction.

Formosa Advanced Technologies Co., according to its company webpage, was established in 1990 by Formosa Taffeta Co., a Formosa Plastics Group (FPG) affiliated company, and provides services in customized OEM and ODM solutions including wafer test, IC assembly and test, and module turkey services.