Taiwan water park fireball that killed 11 and injured Hongkongers 'caused by hot stage lights igniting powder'

A deadly fireball that ripped through a crowd of young people at a Taiwan water park in June was caused when coloured powder was ignited by stage lights, according to a newspaper report into the findings of an official investigation.

The cornstarch powder had been sprayed over the crowd of hundreds of partygoers at the Formosa Fun Coast water park.

It exploded when it came into contact with the lights, whose surface temperatures reached more than 400 degrees Celsius, the Liberty Times reported, citing a fire department investigation.

Eleven people were killed and hundreds were hospitalised, some with third-degree burns covering more than 90 per cent of their bodies. Five women from Hong Kong were among the 519 injured. 

The report has been submitted to prosecutors, but officials declined to comment on its content.

“We will use this report as a reference,” Shihlin district prosecutors’ office spokeswoman Su Pei-yu said. “We can’t reveal details at the moment as the investigation is still underway.”

The event, which drew about 1,000 people, mostly between 18 and 25 years old, turned into a nightmare when the inferno ripped through the crowd.