Taiwan colour party disaster: one dies

Taipei

A 20-year-old partygoer died today after suffering 90 per cent burns from a fireball that injured nearly 500 people at a Taiwan "colour party", with organisers facing charges after plumes of decorative powder ignited.

She is the first fatality from the disaster, which saw crowds of young revellers engulfed in flames after being sprayed with clouds of multi-coloured corn starch.

The company which produced the starch said users had been warned of a potential fire hazard.

Around 1,000 spectators had attended the Color Play Asia event at the Formosa Fun Coast water park, just outside the capital Taipei, on Saturday evening.

More than 200 suffered serious injuries and are being treated across 43 hospitals.

Victim Lee Pei-yun, 20, was pronounced dead at Taichung's Chung Shan Hospital in central Taiwan today.

"Doctors pronounced Lee dead after her mother agreed to stop the treatment provided to her daughter," an official at the Taichung city government's health bureau told AFP.

The official confirmed that Lee had sustained 90 percent burns.

Media reported that Lee's 12-year-old brother was also hospitalised with 80 percent burns. Both were standing close to the stage when the fireball erupted, reports said.