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Fire caused by quake kills family in Tainan County

Two adults and a child were killed yesterday morning after an earthquake that struck off the Taitung County coast caused a fire in Tainan County's Liuchia Township (六甲).

Preliminary police investigations indicated the flames that devastated the car body shop and home owned by the deceased was most likely triggered when candles on the family's shrine were knocked over by the temblor.

The first quake measuring 5.8 on the Richter scale occurred at 4:33am, shaking Taitung's Changbin Township (長濱). The second struck 21 minutes later with a magnitude of 4.4 near the first, the earthquake center said.

The county fire department and the police said a follow-up investigation will determine the real cause of the fire.

The bodies of the shop owner, 44 year-old Lin Wen-yin (林文英), his wife Chen Yu-sheng (陳玉雙), 33, and their seven-year-old daughter Lin Chia-yun (林家昀) were blackened and unrecognizable by the time firefighters found them.

The fire department received a call yesterday morning when neighbors saw thick smoke coming from the roof of the body shop. Local newspapers reported one neighbor tried to pry open the steel bars over the windows when he heard a woman screaming for help.

The man alerted the police when he was not able to open the window.

Firefighters arrived at the scene within three minutes of the call.

It was reported that several minor explosions caused by inflammable items stored inside the shop went off as the fire fighters were trying to extinguish the flames.

Over 30 firefighters and 10 fire trucks were mobilized to the scene. The fire was reportedly under control by 5:10am and completely extinguished by 6am.

The parents of the shop owner arrived at the shop after the fire was extinguished. The two had to be rushed to the nearby hospital after fainting when they saw the wreckage and learned that their son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter were all killed.

Additional reporting by DPA
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