3 dead, 2 injured in Kaohsiung fire

Taipei, Nov. 7 (CNA) Three people were killed and two seriously injured in a fire that broke out early Thursday morning at a traditional Taiwanese three-story house in Kaohsiung, the city's fire bureau reported.

The deceased include an unidentified woman and two men: the older brother and son of a 61-year-old man surnamed Tung (董). 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, according to the bureau.

Tung and his wife, surnamed Wang (王), 55, were also critically injured and are currently in intensive care at Kaohsiung Veterans General Hospital and Kaohsiung Medical University Chung-Ho Memorial Hospital, respectively, the Kaohsiung Police Department Sanmin Second Precinct said Thursday morning.

The fire bureau said it received a report of the fire at a residence on Dingzhong Road in Sanmin District at 12:38 a.m. and promptly dispatched 22 vehicles and 50 personnel to the scene. The blaze was extinguished by 3:40 a.m.

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.

On Thursday morning, a neighbor told the press that Tung, a plumber and electrician, was well-liked by the community and often hosted neighbors for meals and gatherings at his home, adding that the incident was unlikely caused by a vendetta.