Deadly fires broke out early Friday morning at residences in central Taiwan’s Nantou County and Taichung, killing a Hong Kong student and a woman respectively.
A fire broke out in student housing in Nantou County’s Caotun Township early Friday morning, claiming the life of a Hong Kong student.
The county’s fire department deployed 40 emergency response personnel to the site, a private student housing where studio apartments were available for rent.
After the fire was put out within 20 minutes, firefighters found the Hong Kong man in his third-floor room dead.
The landlord of the deceased confirmed him as a 27-year-old student with the last name Lee, who was enrolled at a technology university in Changhua County. Lee was living in Nantou because he had previously attended the private Nan Kai University of Technology in Caotun.
After transferring to the Changhua school in January, he had decided to stay in his Nantou apartment instead of relocating.
The local fire department has opened an investigation into the cause of the fire, while police authorities have begun to contact Lee’s relatives and interview his landlord as well as other tenants of the building. The fire authorities also estimated that the fire damage covered approximately 25 square meters, causing about NT$350,000 in damages.
In related news, a fire also broke out in Taichung’s South District Friday morning, claiming the life of one female and causing injuries to eight others.
The fire started at around 3 a.m. at a three-floor building located within the district. Fifty-one emergency response personnel were deployed, and the fire was extinguished by 4:10 a.m.
Firemen were able to rescue nine individuals and transport them to four nearby hospitals. Five of the rescued individuals were members of the Lin family, whose residence was where the fire started from.
One of the five individuals, a 64-year-old female, later passed away.
The other four people are neighbors of the family.
The damage caused by the fire covered approximately 150 square meters.
Preliminary investigation suggests that the fire broke out due to a short circuit in an electrical outlet behind a television.
Source: Focus Taiwan News Channel