Taiwan Waterpark Becomes Fiery Hellscape After Colored Smoke Ignites and Scalds Hundreds

A waterpark in New Taipei City was transformed into a fiery hellscape on Saturday night when one of the special effects deployed during a DJ set — colored smoke pumped over the crowd — caught fire, scalding more than 200 attendees.

In video of the incident, a remix of Jay-Z and Kanye West's song "Niggas In Paris" can be heard fading out just before the cloud ignites, swallowing screaming patrons as they rush away from the stage.

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The incident took place around 8:30pm local time at Formosa Fun Coast during an event put on by the group Color Play Asia. Photographs from the scene showed burn victims being carried out of the park on inflatable rafts.

Wang Wei-sheng, a liaison with the New Taipei City fire department command center, told the Associated Press the explosion was accidental, and authorities do not know what the powder that caught fire was exactly. (Organizers of similar events in the US, like the nationwide Color Run, say the powders they use are non-toxic, free of heavy metals, and made with dyes regulated by the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act.)

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Eighty-three of the more 1,000 revelers at the event sustained serious burns — some with burns covering more than 40 percent of their bodies — and an additional 131 were treated for more minor injuries, Wang added. No deaths have been reported.

New Taipei City Mayor Eric Chu called it the "worst incident of mass injury [ever] in New Taipei." He ordered the park be shut down until a full investigation was completed. Officials at the now-shuttered Formosa Fun Coast said in a statement they would work "comprehensively" with the fire department.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Follow Tessa Stuart on Twitter: @tessastuart