TAIPEI (AFP) - A giant yellow duck on display in a northern Taiwan port exploded on Tuesday, just hours before it was expected to attract a big crowd to count down the new year.

The 18m tall duck on show at Keelung burst around noon and deflated into a floating yellow disc, only 11 days after it went on display.

It was the second time that a giant inflatable duck - a bath toy replica created by Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman - had burst while on show in Taiwan.

"We want to apologise to the fans of the yellow rubber duck.... the weather is fine today and we haven't found the cause of the problem. We will carefully examine the duck to determine the cause," organiser Huang Jing-tai told reporters.

http://www.straitstimes.com/breaking-news/asia/story/giant-yellow-duck-explodes-taiwanagain-20131231

Organisers are unsure as to the cause of its demise, but one theory is that it was attacked by eagles.

The duck was designed by the Dutch artist Florentijn Hofman to be a giant version of a popular bath toy.

Last month a similar duck was damaged elsewhere in Taiwan, when an earthquake triggered a power outage that caused it to deflate.

A third Taiwanese duck was brought ashore in September because of an approaching typhoon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-25560771