At least 25 people have been killed and 267 others injured in a series of gas explosions in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung.
The explosions happened late on Thursday night, with witnesses reporting huge fireballs soaring into the air, BBC reported quoting officials.
The exact cause of the gas leaks is not clear, but reports say the blasts were caused by ruptured pipelines, the report said.
Taiwan's premier said there were at least five blasts.
"The local fire department received calls of gas leaks late Thursday and then there was a series of blasts around midnight affecting an area of two to three sq km [one sq mile]," the National Fire Agency said in a statement.
"I saw lots of cars and motorcycles with engines all over on the road, and doctors checking if bodies were dead or alive," eyewitness Chen Guan-yuan, who was at the scene shortly after the blast, told the BBC.
"Because the explosion range is so far so it's really difficult to handle this situation immediately," Chen said.
Four firefighters who were investigating reports of a gas leak were said to be among the dead.
Firefighters were still trying to see if people were trapped under the rubble.
"The cause of the gas leak is still not clear at this moment. We suspect the leaked gas could be propylene," said Economic Affairs Minister Chang Chia-chu.
