A major fire and explosion in Tainan's Annan District has left dozens of homes damaged and residents in shelters, with the city now racing to clean up and find who is responsible.

• Eleven homes are too damaged to live in, and another 102 nearby were hit by smoke and debris.
• Twenty-three displaced residents are staying in a community center and a local temple, with food, supplies, and bedding provided.
• Mayor Huang Wei-che cut short a trip to Singapore to run the response on the ground; President Lai Ching-te called in early and ordered the military to help.
• Thirty soldiers and tactical vehicles are already clearing wreckage, with fifty more due tomorrow, while crews haul away broken glass, window frames, and ruined furniture.
• Air quality testing around the site has come back normal so far, and monitoring continues.

Outlook: A criminal investigation is underway into the piles of waste at the site, so details will stay under wraps for now, but the city has promised prosecutions if pollution or waste-disposal laws were broken.