Man indicted for accidentally causing NT$426 million fire at Carrefour

Taipei, July 13 (CNA) A man in his early 20s was indicted on Saturday for accidentally causing a fire at a Carrefour shopping center in Taoyuan last year that caused over NT$426 million (US$13 million) in damage, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said they were indicting the man, who turned himself in after the shopping center caught fire, for public endangerment after some fooling around at the store on Dec. 3, 2023, at 3 a.m. went badly wrong.

The penalty for someone who carelessly starts a fire to an occupied structure is up to one year in prison, or a fine of up to NT$15,000, according to Taiwan's Criminal Code.

The man, surnamed Kuo (郭), took a flammable pesticide from the shelf of the store in Zhongli District and sprayed it through the flame of his own lighter, the Taiwan Taoyuan District Prosecutors Office said in its indictment.

The indictment did not say why he did that, but local media have speculated that he was trying to create a flamethrower effect.

Kuo was shocked by the flame he caused and left the scene with his two friends after putting the pesticide back on the shelf without checking its condition, prosecutors said.

Due to the residual fire from the pesticide, other pesticides on the shelves also caught fire and exploded, according to prosecutors.

The fire spread rapidly, consuming a substantial amount of merchandise and causing severe damage to both the first and basement floors, prosecutors said, adding that it also resulted in structural damage to the building.

While no one was injured in the fire, Carrefour had to cease operations until May 14.

According to the indictment, Carrefour initially argued that Kuo's actions were potentially intentional, citing discussions he had with friends before the incident about similar experiments seen online.

Prosecutors argued, however, that this only demonstrated Kuo's awareness that his actions could cause a fire, rather than specifically knowing that residual flames could lead to one.

Moreover, Kuo appeared very nervous during questioning, which prosecutors interpreted as indicating that it was a case of negligent behavior, they said.