Ex-tenant named as suspect in deadly Taichung house fire

Taichung, Nov. 3 (CNA) Police have named a 64-year-old former tenant as a suspect in a house fire in Taichung Monday that left a 17-year-old dead and her 50-year-old mother in critical condition.

At a news conference, Hung Ming-chiang (洪明強), deputy chief of the Wuri Precinct under the Taichung City Police Bureau, said that a van without license plates belonging to the suspect, surnamed Hsu (許), was found badly damaged by the fire at the scene.

According to police, Hsu is a tenant of a property owned by the victims' family for over 20 years, but was served an eviction notice in July by the family.

A member of the landlord's family, who identified Hsu as a suspect to police, said he believed the family's former tenant may have caused the fire because of the contentious nature of his eviction.

In addition, the landlord's family was seeking damages from Hsu, whom they accused of sexually harassing the deceased teenage victim, police said.

Hsu was located at 4:20 a.m. after his daughter contacted police to report that her father had tried to take his own life, police said.