7 deaths confirmed in Pingtung hospital fire

Taipei, Oct. 4 (CNA) A total of seven people were confirmed as having died as the result of a fire that broke out in a hospital in Pingtung, southern Taiwan, with one other death being designated not caused by the fire and another pending an autopsy result, the Pingtung District Prosecutors Office said Friday.

Previously, a total of nine deaths were reported in relation to the fire in Antai Tian-Sheng Memorial Hospital in Donggang Township, Pingtung on Thursday morning.

However, following autopsies it was found that seven of the deceased died from acute respiratory failure due to smoke inhalation, but a woman, surnamed Cheng (鄭), 86, was determined to have died due to heart failure.

The cause of death of a ninth person, a 53-year man, has not yet been confirmed by an autopsy which is scheduled for later on Friday, prosecutors said, adding the man had been end-stage cancer.

Prosecutors said a forensic medicine expert has issued a death certificate to Cheng's family indicating she died of natural causes, ruling out the possibility that her death resulted from the fire.

The seven deaths confirmed to be caused by the fire included a 57-year-old man surnamed Wang (王), who was an employee of the hospital, while the six other deaths were a 72-year-old woman surnamed Hsieh (謝), a 69-year-old man surnamed Chuang (莊), a 52-year-old man surnamed Huang (黃), a 47-year-old man surnamed Huang (黃), a 51-year-old man surnamed Chen (陳), and a 36-year-old man surnamed Lee (李).

The Bureau of Fire and Emergency Services of Pingtung County Government said the agency received a report on Thursday morning about a fire at Antai Hospital and immediately dispatched firefighters to the scene.

According to Pingtung County government's Communication and International Affairs Division, a total of 324 patients in Block D of the hospital where the fire happened were rescued and transferred to other hospitals.

The fire was extinguished around 1:08 p.m. that day, the fire bureau said.

Su Ching-chyuan (蘇清泉), president of the hospital, said the deceased patients were bedridden seniors who were hospitalized and cared for by caregivers.

The bodies of the deceased were found on the building's fifth, 10th and 11th floors, Su said.

Prosecutors said an investigation has been launched into the cause of the deadly fire, while Su said he suspected the fire could be linked to Typhoon Krathon, which was approaching Taiwan as the fire broke out, given the hospital's electricity supply on Wednesday night was unstable.