1 dead, 10 hospitalized after inhaling chlorine gas at work in Tainan

Tainan, March 24 (CNA) Several workers at an electroplating factory in Tainan were sent to local hospitals Monday afternoon after inhaling chlorine gas, and one of them later died, according to local authorities.

First responders arrived at the factory in Anding District and found 11 individuals who were suffering from inhalation injuries after the Tainan City Fire Bureau received a report of an accident at 2:15 p.m., the bureau said.

Many of the victims complained of chest pain and irritated eyes, and were sent to local hospitals to be checked.

One of them, a man surnamed Lin (林) who fainted after the chlorine gas was released, showed no vital signs by the time he arrived at the hospital and was later pronounced dead, the fire bureau said.

As of 6:45 p.m., four of the remaining 10 individuals with more serious injuries were being kept in Chi Mei Medical Center's emergency ward for observation and were all conscious.

The six others were treated mostly for inhalation burns and choking, according to the fire bureau, but it was unclear as of later Monday night if they had been discharged.

The police and fire services believe that an employee of a chemical supplier who was delivering bleach to the factory mistakenly poured the bleach into a vat storing polyaluminum chloride, and the mix of these chemicals created chlorine gas.

The Southern Occupational Safety and Health Center's officials came up with the same finding and shared it with local authorities, Tainan City Labor Affairs Bureau chief Wang Hsin-chi (王鑫基) said in a press statement.

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration under the Ministry of Labor has ordered the factory to suspend its operations and notified prosecutors about the employer's suspected violations of the Occupational Safety and Health Act and relevant regulations, according to Wang.