TAIPEI (TVBS News) — Taipei City Councilors raised concerns over the Taipei Dome's (台北大巨蛋) failure to simulate full-capacity evacuation scenarios on Monday (Oct. 21). The issue surfaced after a record crowd of 40,000 attended the Taiwan Series (中華職棒總冠軍賽) on Saturday, resulting in congestion near the MRT escalator exits and sparking safety worries.
Democratic Progressive Party (DPP, 民進黨) Councilor Chien Shu-pei (簡舒培) highlighted former Department of Urban Development (都發局) head Jou-Min Lin's (林洲民) past comments, noting the unreliability of the dome's disaster evacuation simulation, approved on Oct. 14, 2019, due to its avoidance of key parameter settings.
DPP Councilor Sabrina Lim (林亮君) questioned the absence of full-capacity evacuation simulations and urged Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) to review safety tests and simulations for fan safety.
The Taipei City Government's Department of Sports (台北市體育局) stated that the Taiwan Fire Protection Safety Center Res Foundation (消防安全基金會) verified the dome's fire and evacuation safety on July 30. The foundation also approved the worst-case scenario simulation tests.
The department emphasized its collaboration with the Department of Transportation (交通局) and Taipei Rapid Transit Corporation (捷運公司) to ensure safe exit routes for future events. The Department of Urban Development explained in 2019 that the simulation software used at the dome had reasonable parameter settings, with limitations preventing worst-case scenario settings.