On Saturday, nearly 500 people were injured when a giant fireball engulfed partygoers at a seaside water park outside Taipei at the Color Play Asia event, causing severe injuries to many victims, who are mostly in their teens and 20s.
Firefighters say they think the explosion was caused by a coloured powder that was sprayed over the crowd. It’s still unclear what caused it to ignite, but Taiwan’s government has banned events from using coloured powder until further notice.
As hospitals in the area are battling to cope with the high number of burn patients from the tragic disaster, the event organisers are currently under fire and are trying to establish why the powder erupted into flames.
This coloured powder in question is made from cornstarch and colouring. The company that supplied the coloured powder for the event said that there are warnings on the packaging that the material is flammable. Used under high temperatures, a dust explosion could occur.
Many similar events with the use of coloured powder are held globally, even in Malaysia. For that reason, The Color Run™, an organisation that holds annual coloured powder fun runs around the world, is assuring Malaysians that the colour powder used by the organisation has strictly been tested for flammability and are of required EU standards.
Should you take part in any events held by The Color Run™, be rest assured that you are in safe hands.
Here’s the full statement by The Color Run™ Malaysia:
The Color Run™ can confirm that the powder used in its events has been tested for flammability and successfully passed the required EU standards. The powder used in the tragic incident in Taipei was different from that used in Color Run™ events and was not provided by the Color Run™ supplier.
As previously stated, The Color Run™ has no association with the venue, organizers, or equipment used at the Taiwan incident. However, we take the events that occurred in Taipei very seriously as the health and safety of our participants and our employees has always been at the forefront of our minds and actions.
We have had zero fire-related incidents in five hundred global events with more than four million participants. We are committed to staging safe and secure events.
