Taipei, Taiwan— A dispute between two men at a packed night market in Taipei's Wanhua District turned fatal just after 9:40 p.m. on October 18, when one pulled a knife and stabbed the other in the chest.
The market was busy. Saturday night crowds. Food stalls lining both sides. Witnesses said the argument started over a bumped table near a oyster omelet stand. Voices rose. Then a blade.
Police arrived within four minutes after vendors called 110. They found a man in his 30s collapsed between two stalls, bleeding heavily. Paramedics attempted CPR on the pavement. He was pronounced dead at National Taiwan University Hospital at 10:18 p.m.
The suspect, a 41-year-old man with no fixed address listed at the scene, did not run. Vendors restrained him. Officers recovered a folding knife. "He was standing there, hands up. People were shouting. The stalls were still frying," one witness told officers.
Wanhua Precinct said the two men did not know each other. Alcohol may have been a factor. Investigators are reviewing surveillance footage from three stalls that captured the seconds before the attack. No other injuries were reported.
Night markets are tight spaces. Security is light. Most rely on vendors and foot patrols. When violence happens, there is nowhere to go. A mother who was buying food with her daughter said she pulled her child behind a cart and covered her eyes.
Police taped off a 50-meter section and ordered stalls to close. Customers were pushed back. Forensics teams worked under fluorescent stall lights while the smell of cooking oil still hung in the air.
The case is now with Taipei District Prosecutors Office on suspicion of homicide. The suspect remains in custody. Police said charges will be finalized after autopsy and witness interviews.
The market reopened late Sunday morning with extra patrols. Vendors returned. The blood had been washed away.
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