Investigators probing a deadly explosion at a Taichung department store Thursday have run into a puzzle: the gas company says it shut off service to the building days before. But there's at least one revelation: the store didn't have permission to be remodeling in the section where the blast happened.
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00:00Four people are dead and 34 others injured after a suspected gas explosion tore through
00:05a floor of Taichung's Shinkong Mitsukoshi department store on Thursday.
00:10The blast damaged the top of the central Taiwan building, including the food court which was
00:14under renovation.
00:16Now investigators probing the incident are facing a puzzle.
00:20The utilities company says it shut off gas to the floor being renovated three days before
00:24the explosion.
00:26It also says technicians haven't found signs of a leak or burning, seemingly ruling out
00:31natural gas as the cause.
00:34Outside observers say understanding how the blast happened requires finding a full scheme
00:38of the building's gas lines.
00:56As investigators search the wreckage for evidence, the city says it's monitoring progress.
01:17But what is now clear is that the department store didn't have permission to remodel at
01:21the time of the explosion, a revelation that could have legal consequences.
01:30For 14 years, this department store has been Taiwan's most profitable.
01:35And even the highest possible fine for illegal construction won't come close to the estimated
01:39two million U.S. dollars it will lose a day while closed.
01:44But with so many deaths and injuries, that may not be the end of the complex's legal
01:48problems as the mystery of what went wrong is unraveled.
01:52Chris Ma and John Van Triest for Taiwan Plus.