Focus Taiwan
Date: 2019/06/03
By: Huang Li-yun, Tyson Lu, Wang Shwu-fen and Chung Yu-chen
Kaohsiung Mayor Han Kuo-yu (center)
Taipei, June 3 (CNA) Kaohsiung mayor and presidential hopeful Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) of the opposition Kuomintang (KMT) will hold a rally as scheduled in a Hualien night market June 8, despite a fire that broke out there early Monday, according to several KMT councilors.
The blaze, which broke out at the Dongdamen Night Market in Hualien City at about 1 a.m. and burnt 42 stalls to the ground, was extinguished after an hour, the Hualien County Fire Department said, adding that no casualties were reported, as most of the vendors were closed at the time.
The department said the cause of the fire is under investigation.
A blaze broke out at the Dongdamen Night Market in Hualien City on June 3 (photo from Hualien Association Facebook)
However, the fire has not deterred Han from seeking public support in eastern Taiwan for his presidential bid, as a rally held in Taipei June 1 drew nearly 400,000 people chanting “Han Kuo-yu, president of the common people,” according to the organizers. Police, however, put the number at a mere 70,000. [FULL STORY]
