TAIPEI—A fire at a hospital in Taiwan killed nine people on Monday and injured 15 and an investigation has been launched into the cause of the blaze, authorities said.
Premier William Lai said the health ministry was overseeing rescue efforts at the hospital in New Taipei City, where the fire was extinguished shortly after dawn.
The fire broke out on the 7th floor of the building, which was used for hospice care.
Media footage showed patients being wheeled out of the building in their hospital beds, while medical workers took others out on stretchers and into ambulances.
Scores of ambulances lined up outside the hospital waiting to take victims to medical centers.
“There were 32 patients in total staying in the ward on the seventh floor,” Chief of the New Taipei City fire department Huang Te-Ching said.
“Two caregivers, one nurse and eight migrant workers.
“After our search and rescue efforts on that floor, we sent 23 people to (other) hospitals. Fourteen (of them) were experiencing OHCA (Out of Hospital Cardiac Arrest), five are unconscious, and four are awake. The other hospitals are now giving emergency treatment to those experiencing OHCA.”
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