At least 46 killed in Taiwanese apartment building inferno

By HUIZHONG WU
Associated Press

KAOHSIUNG, Taiwan (AP) — Officials say at least 46 people were killed and another 41 injured after a fire broke out in a run-down mixed commercial and residential building in the Taiwanese port city of Kaohsiung. Neighborhood residents say the 13-story building housed many poor, elderly and disabled people and it wasn’t clear how many of the 120 units were occupied. Witnesses said they heard something that sounded like an explosion at about 3 a.m. when the blaze erupted in the building’s lower floors, which were occupied by a closed movie theater, abandoned restaurants and karaoke clubs. Mayor Chen Chi Mai bowed in apology. Media reports say investigators are focusing on a first-floor tea shop where the fire started.