Four people were killed and one seriously injured in a fire that broke out early this morning at a traditional Taiwanese three-story house in Kaohsiung, the city's fire bureau reported.
The deceased include a woman and three men: a 61-year-old man surnamed Tung (董), his older brother, his son and his wife’s sister.
The woman and Tung's brother were found dead at the scene when fire personnel arrived, while Tung's son was alive, but later died despite being rushed to the hospital, the bureau said.
Photo copied by Huang Liang-chieh, Taipei Times
Tung and his wife, surnamed Wang (王), 55, were also critically injured and sent to intensive care at Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital and Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital respectively, the Kaohsiung Police Department Sanmin Second Precinct said.
Tung died later in the morning.
The fire bureau said it received a report of the fire at a residence on Dingzhong Road in Sanmin District (三民) at 12:38am and promptly dispatched 22 vehicles and 50 personnel to the scene.
The blaze was extinguished by 3:40am.
The three deceased were all found on the third floor, while Tung and Wang were found on the second floor, the bureau added.
Preliminary observations from the fire bureau suggest the fire originated on the first floor and spread upward through the house.
However, a thorough investigation is underway to determine the exact cause of the blaze.
Investigators inferred that an electric motorcycle exploded and caused the fire, and excluded the possibility of arson at the moment.
A neighbor told reporters that Tung, a plumber and electrician, was well-liked by the community and often hosted neighbors for meals and gatherings at his home.
Additional reporting by Huang Liang-chieh and Huang Chia-lin
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