The Taipei City Government will conduct fire safety inspections on all hotels in the city built before 1975 within two weeks, the city said yesterday.
It said the move would help ensure the safety of the city’s older hotels after a fire at the Paihsueh Hotel (白雪大旅社) on Monday killed seven people and left one person injured.
It was the city’s deadliest fire in 15 years. The cause of the fire is still under investigation.
The 36-year-old hotel, located in Taipei’s Datung District (大同), was one of 85 hotels in the city built before 1975.
The hotel had passed a municipal inspection last month that checked equipment including fire extinguishers and fire alarms. However, the building followed outdated construction regulations, making it difficult for guests to escape, officials said.
“The hotel had only one emergency exit. Although this was not illegal according to the regulations, it creates a dangerous environment for hotel guests,” Taipei Mayor Hau Lung-bin (郝龍斌) said yesterday at a municipal meeting at Taipei City Hall.
The city’s Building Administration Office said the hotel applied for a construction permit in 1960. Construction regulations at that time only required hotels to be equipped with one emergency exit.
Hau said the city government would draft new regulations to enhance building safety rules, and would carry out a thorough fire safety investigation on all the city’s hotels within a month.
The city government also plans to establish a task force to help old hotels upgrade their facilities.
Hau urged hoteliers to cooperate with the government’s efforts to upgrade hotel facilities and enhance their safety to provide visitors with a safer living environment when staying in Taipei.
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