TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A fire occurred while a pair of grandparents and their two granddaughters prepared for a barbecue in Tainan's Yongkang District on Sunday (Sept. 11), resulting in three deaths.
CNA reported that a 90-year-old man surnamed Wang (王), his 70-year-old wife, and his 20-year-old granddaughter surnamed Chen (陳) were found trapped in the burning building. Wang’s bedridden wife died on the scene while Wang and Chen suffered out-of-hospital cardiac arrest; though they were rushed to the hospital for urgent treatment, attempts to resuscitate them were unsuccessful.
According to preliminary investigations, Wang had been preparing for a barbecue with Chen and his other 17-year-old granddaughter when the girls noticed an electrical fire on the first floor of the house. Chen went up to the second floor to get their grandparents, but due to the fire’s quick spread, which may have been aided by the many flammable recyclables piled inside the house, she and her grandparents became trapped.
The Tainan City Government Fire Bureau received a report about the fire at 5:52 p.m. and, upon firefighters’ arrival, saw flames coming out of the house and spreading toward neighboring buildings. Firefighters contained the fire by 6:18 p.m.
The fire bureau said that there had been no fire alarms in the house, which would have bought the residents an additional 30 seconds to escape. Tainan Mayor Huang Wei-che (黃偉哲), who came on scene after learning about the incident, urged the public not to pile flammable objects indoors.
Firefighters find Wang, his wife, and his granddaughter on the second floor. (CNA photo)
