Multiple fatalities after residents trapped in apartment building fire: one man survives fall from 6th floor
Six people are confirmed dead, and seven were injured, after a fire in a residential building in Taichung City this afternoon, Sunday, March 6.
Taichung City Fire Department dispatched 22 vehicles and 85 personnel from eight fire stations after receiving reports of a fire in a 7 storey building on Xingzhong Street in Central District at 4:30 pm.
Dramatic scenes unfolded as two men and one woman escaped from an apartment on the 7th floor and stood precariously on a narrow window awning. Another man was seen waving a piece of cloth in a plea for help from the roof of the building.
One of the men standing on the awning lost his footing and fell. The man landed on a parked car and was rushed to China Medical University Hospital.
Affected by the heat from their burning apartment, the remaining man and woman on the window awning were doused by jets of water from firefighters on the ground while they awaited rescue. After around 50 minutes, the two people were reached by ladder truck and brought safely to the ground.
Firefighters entered the building and rescued seven people, one without vital signs who was later declared dead at the hospital.
After the fire was brought under control, a floor by floor search was conducted. At 6:40 pm, a 69-year-old woman was found uninjured, but suffering from shock after spending two hours trapped in an elevator.
By around 8:30 pm a further five people had been found. One was obviously dead, and four others were rushed to hospital without vital signs.
At around 9:00 pm, Taichung City Mayor Lu Shiow-yen went to the scene and confirmed to reporters that six people were already confirmed dead.
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