A 40-Year-Old Building Burns In Taiwan: 46 Dead, Dozens Injured

Fire illustration. (Wikimedia Commons/DVIDSHUB)

JAKARTA - A fire in a residential building in Kaohsiung City, southern Taiwan has killed 46 people and injured 41 others, the local government said Thursday.

The fire broke out in the 40-year-old building in the Yancheng District of Kaohsiung in the early hours of Thursday and was extinguished around dawn.

Citing Reuters, October 14, the Kaohsiung fire department said in a statement that after completing a search of the building, they were able to confirm 46 deaths.

Mayor Chen Chi-mai said the building was partially abandoned, having previously served as a restaurant, karaoke room, and cinema.

The government is investigating the causes including whether arson is to blame.

Meanwhile, citing AP, the fire that hit the 13-story building is said to have occurred around 03:00 a.m. local time. Witnesses told Taiwanese media they heard an explosion at around 3 a.m.

Authorities said 32 bodies were sent directly to the morgue from the site of the fire. Another 14 people, who showed no signs of life, were among 55 people taken to hospital. In Taiwan, official confirmation of death can only be done in a hospital.

Another search of the building is planned before sunset, according to officials.

A video shown on Taiwanese television showed orange flames and smoke billowing from the lower floors of the building as firefighters sprayed water on them from the street. One woman, who was not named, said her parents aged 60 to 70 were inside.

After daybreak, firefighters were seen spraying water on the still-smoldering center floor of the building from a raised platform. The building is said to be an apartment with shops downstairs.

The cause of the fire was not clear, but firefighters recorded the most intense blaze where much of the chaos had piled up, a fire department statement said.