Death toll in Kaohsiung fire climbs to 46; injuries reach 41

Kaohsiung, Oct. 14 (CNA) A fire that broke out in a commercial and residential building in Kaohsiung early Thursday has claimed 46 lives and left 41 people injured, the city's fire department said later in the day.

As of Thursday afternoon, 87 people had been pulled from the 13-story building on Fubei Road in the city's Yancheng District, according to the Kaohsiung Fire Bureau.

The fire broke out at around 3 a.m. on the first floor of the building and rose to the sixth floor, filling the seventh floor and above with smoke, which caused most casualties, the bureau's chief Lee Ching-hsiu (李清秀) said.

Most of the residents in the building were senior citizens who suffered from dementia or physical disabilities, he said.

As of 4:40 p.m. Thursday, 46 deaths and 41 injuries had been recorded, most of them from smoke inhalation, Lee said, adding that the blaze had been put out at 7:17 a.m.

Four witnesses have been summoned by the police, in the investigation into the cause of the fire, he said.

Update

Oct. 15: Two people under investigation for Kaohsiung building fire