Taiwanese authorities are now focusing on LCY Chemical Corp., a private company, as "the most likely culprit" in the series of gas explosions late Thursday and early Friday in Kaohshiung, causing the deaths of 26 people and injuring 260.

It also appears that the company had sufficient warning about an impending disaster when it recorded abnormal pressures in its pipelines, but did not act on it.

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Kaohshiung's Environmental Protection Bureau said a major propene leak most probably coming from LCY Chemical's piping system could have triggered the explosions.

Chen Chin-der, head of the bureau, spoke to Taiwan's Central News Agency (CNA) and said that based on the initial investigation, they found that the pressure in the LCY Chemical piping system used to channel propene was reported as abnormal starting at around 8 p.m. Thursday night.

Chen said 3.77 metric tons of propene leaked between 8 and 9 p.m. alone.

The bureau said If this condition were monitored sufficiently, the company would have shut down the system and repaired whatever was causing the abnormal pressure. But Chen said LCY did not shut down the pipe system until 11:40 p.m.

The first large explosion occurred roughly 16 minutes later.

The bureau ascertained that concentration of propene at the site of the blasts was abnormally high at 13,000 ppm.

Even the slightest spark could have set off the propene in the tight confines of the underground piping network.

Interviewed by CNA, LCY Chemical Corp. Chairman Bowei Lee said his company will cooperate fully with the investigation.

Lee said they "would never avoid" responsibility once the cause of the explosions has been determined.

He said he hoped that authorities could soon clarify exactly what happened, and determine whether the disaster was caused by a gas leak, including propene leak, or if the leak could have been the result of piping damaged by a construction project in the area.

State-run oil company CPC Corp. also has gas pipes in the area, which it reported as all normal during the time of the explosions.

Kaohshiung's city government said 4.4 kilometers of road in the port city was damaged by the blasts. The government has suspended natural gas supply to over 23,000 households in the Chianjen district, adding that water and electricity services were also temporarily suspended, according to the Executive Yuan.

wo city residents remained missing as of Friday night in the disaster area.

Minister of Economic Affairs Chang Chia-juch said Friday that although initial reports point to a propene leak as the probable cause of the explosions, the incident still requires further investigation.

TagsKaohshiung, LCY Chemical