Five die in building fire in Tainan

Tainan, Aug. 13 (CNA) A fire broke out in a three-story building in Tainan's Liujia District early Tuesday morning, resulting in the deaths of five people who were trapped on the third floor, according to the city's fire department.

The fire was extinguished at 5 a.m., and as of 9:06 a.m., firefighters had found five charred bodies.

The fire department said it received a report of the blaze at 2:36 a.m., and it dispatched 19 vehicles and 37 personnel to put it out.

When firefighters arrived on the scene, the third floor of the building was engulfed in flames, and the five people, thought to be members of the same family, were trapped in a corrugated steel extension at the back of the third floor dwelling.

The fire was brought under control at 4:19 a.m. and extinguished at 5 a.m., but temperatures inside the structure were still too high for firefighters to search the premises.

It was not until 7:12 a.m. that two charred corpses were found behind the third floor before the others were discovered nearby, according to the fire department, which said it was still trying to clarify how the incident occurred.

The fire department has initially determined that the five people in the house were a 44-year-old man surnamed Chen (陳), his 39-year-old wife surnamed Wu (吳), two sons aged 15 and 18, and an 8-year-old daughter, but the bodies still have to be identified.

The family has one other daughter, who is currently overseas, the fire department said.

Firefighters told CNA that the fire may have started in an agricultural machinery store on the building's first floor, which they suspect was filled with debris and flammable liquids that likely caused the fire and fueled its quick spread.

Other details about the fire, including how it started, are still being investigated, the fire department said.