Two firefighters on Sunday night died in a Hsinchu City apartment complex fire, with the last of the 351 residents evacuated at about 1:10pm yesterday, the Hsinchu City Fire Bureau said.
After receiving a report of the fire at 10:55pm on Sunday, firefighters at the scene found that cables in a pipe room were burning and emitting thick smoke, the bureau said.
Using two water pipes, they brought the blaze under control at about 11:35pm, although residual smoldering continued, it said.
Photo courtesy of Hu Han-kung
Firefighters Lee Yung-chen (李詠真) and Chou Li-hsin (周立鑫) had entered one of the buildings where the power had gone out to rescue the people trapped inside, the bureau said.
The pair were taking the stairs to the third and eighth floors, where people were reportedly trapped, when they discovered they had insufficient oxygen, a firefighter said.
More firefighters were dispatched to rescue them after receiving distress signals, and found Lee and Chou collapsed on the third-floor stairwell, the firefighter said.
The thick and sticky smoke from the burning cables might have made it harder for them to escape, they said.
Due to the heavy smoke more than 100 people remained trapped in the complex yesterday morning, while firefighters worked to vent the smoke.
The complex consists of four 28-floor buildings.
One resident said her family waited on their balcony until about 7am yesterday before being rescued by a ladder truck.
The last of the 351 residents were evacuated from the complex in the early afternoon.
Some children inhaled smoke and needed to be hospitalized, the bureau said, but no other deaths were reported.
The cause of the fire and the deaths of the firefighters had yet to be determined as of yesterday.
Hsinchu Mayor Kao Hung-an (高虹安) early yesterday morning visited rescued residents and family members of the deceased firefighters at a hospital, offering her condolences and gratitude.
She said the city government would handle the affairs for Lee’s and Chou’s families.
Lee, 39, had served in the fire bureau for 19 years and Chou, 34, for 14 years, the bureau said.
Taipei and New Taipei City government officials are aiming to have the first phase of the Wanhua-Jungho-Shulin Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) line completed and opened by 2027, following the arrival of the first train set yesterday. The 22km-long Light Green Line would connect four densely populated districts in Taipei and New Taipei City: Wanhua (萬華), Jhonghe (中和), Tucheng (土城) and Shulin (樹林). The first phase of the project would connect Wanhua and Jhonghe districts, with Chiang Kai-shek Memorial Hall and Chukuang (莒光) being the terminal stations. The two municipalities jointly hosted a ceremony for the first train to be used
MILITARY AID: Taiwan has received a first batch of US long-range tactical missiles ahead of schedule, with a second shipment expected to be delivered by 2026 The US’ early delivery of long-range tactical ballistic missiles to Taiwan last month carries political and strategic significance, a military source said yesterday. According to the Ministry of National Defense’s budget report, the batch of military hardware from the US, including 11 sets of M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS) and 64 MGM-140 Army Tactical Missile Systems, had been scheduled to be delivered to Taiwan between the end of this year and the beginning of next year. However, the first batch arrived last month, earlier than scheduled, with the second batch —18 sets of HIMARS, 20 MGM-140 missiles and 864 M30
Representative to the US Alexander Yui delivered a letter from the government to US president-elect Donald Trump during a meeting with a former Trump administration official, CNN reported yesterday. Yui on Thursday met with former US national security adviser Robert O’Brien over a private lunch in Salt Lake City, Utah, with US Representative Chris Stewart, the Web site of the US cable news channel reported, citing three sources familiar with the matter. “During that lunch the letter was passed along, and then shared with Trump, two of the sources said,” CNN said. O’Brien declined to comment on the lunch, as did the Taipei
A woman who allegedly attacked a high-school student with a utility knife, injuring his face, on a Taipei metro train late on Friday has been transferred to prosecutors, police said yesterday. The incident occurred near MRT Xinpu Station at about 10:17pm on a Bannan Line train headed toward Dingpu, New Taipei City police said. Before police arrived at the station to arrest the suspect, a woman surnamed Wang (王) who is in her early 40s, she had already been subdued by four male passengers, one of whom was an off-duty Taipei police officer, police said. The student, 17, who sustained a cut about
RSS