[Jang Jong-ho, reporter for Sportschosun] Shock and concern have spread after suspicions arose that "someone poured bleach" into the water tank of an apartment building in Taiwan.
Several members of a family using the water tank reportedly developed symptoms including coughing and abdominal pain.
According to local media outlets, including ETtoday, suspicions were recently raised that bleach had been added to the water tank of an apartment building on Nanxin Street in Ren'ai District, Keelung City, northern Taiwan.
According to a first-floor resident of the apartment building, three of the family's six members—her children—began showing symptoms such as coughing, abdominal pain, and conjunctivitis one after another starting on the 31st of last month. At first, the family thought they had simply caught a cold or were feeling unwell, so they took medicine and carried on.
But before long, the daughter noticed while washing dishes at home that the water seemed different from usual. It felt unusually slippery to the touch and even produced foam.
Feeling that something was wrong, the family called in a plumbing and electrical contractor to inspect the rooftop water tank. The family claimed that the inspection revealed circumstances suggesting bleach had entered the tank.
The water tank reportedly had to be cleaned twice before the job could be completed. The resident said she is currently avoiding drinking the tank water to guard against any possible danger, buying bottled water instead, and has also replaced the filter in the water purifier used at home.
The family suspects that someone may have deliberately poured bleach into the rooftop water tank.
As news of the incident spread, anxiety grew among local residents. A notice was also posted at the apartment building's first-floor entrance stating, "There has been a report that someone suffered harm after bleach was added to the water tank. Please watch out for suspicious people."
The family suspects a resident with whom they had previously clashed over the use of the apartment building's rooftop.
However, the resident said he was being unfairly blamed. He claimed that he had merely removed his own water pump, which had been installed on the rooftop, and denied damaging any water pipes or adding bleach to the water tank during the work.
The police are also refraining from concluding at this point that someone deliberately added the bleach.
Police are continuing to investigate whether bleach was actually added to the water tank or whether the cause was contamination or other material that had accumulated on the bottom of the tank.
Jang Jong-ho, reporter bellho@sportschosun.com
This article has been translated by GripLabs Mingo AI.
