Residential fire death toll rises to 4 after 7-year-old succumbs to injuries

Four of seven victims have died, and one remains in a critical condition today, four days after a fire destroyed a residence in Sanxia District, New Taipei City.

Three people were left dead, and four were injured, three critically, after a fire broke out on the first floor of the six story apartment building on Minsheng Street in the early hours of Wednesday morning, August 11.

Six of the occupants had lost vital signs before or during rescue operations, according to the New Taipei City Fire Department. Three of the victims were declared dead at the hospital, while another three had vital signs restored and remained in a critical condition.

The occupants of the home – a man named Zhan, his wife, their three children, the wife’s disabled brother, and the disabled man’s foreign caregiver, were already in mourning after the death of Zhan’s father the previous week.

A mourning hall had been set up on the first floor to keep vigil for the deceased, and the fire is suspected to have started at the mourning alter due to a short circuit in an electrical extension chord.

Mr Zhan, 42, his 10-year-old daughter, and one-year-old son died Wednesday. Today, Sunday, August 15, at around 5:00 am, Zhan’s 7-year-old son also succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at Far Eastern Memorial Hospital.

Still in a critical condition is a 34-year-old Indonesian caregiver with a coma index of 3.

Mr Zhan’s 40-year-old wife and her 42-year-old brother have both regained consciousness.

Picture: New Taipei City Fire Department.

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