The toll is very heavy.
Forty-six people have died and dozens more have been injured in a fire that broke out early Thursday in a building in the city of Kaohsiung, in southern Taiwan.
The fire broke out in a 13-story mixed-use building in the wee hours of the day, authorities said.
It ravaged several floors before firefighters managed to bring it under control after four hours.
The firefighters had dispatched more than 70 trucks to the site to fight the flames.
The official toll shows 41 injured and 46 dead, according to Kaohsiung firefighters in a press release.
# BREAKING🚨 At least 45 people have died and more than 40 others have been injured in a massive overnight fire in a 13-story high-rise residential building in Kaohsiung.
pic.twitter.com/394QS47m1h
- Moshe Schwartz (@YWNReporter) October 14, 2021
Most of the victims were between the seventh and eleventh floors which housed residential apartments, according to firefighters.
The first five floors, intended for commercial use, were unoccupied.
In the past, the lower part of the building housed restaurants, karaoke bars and a cinema.
"I heard many loud bangs"
For now, the cause of this fire remains undetermined.
However, residents said they heard a number of loud noises on the lower floors where the fire started.
"I heard a lot of loud
bangs
-
bang, bang, bang
- on the ground floor," a resident of the building told Formosa TV, who preferred to remain anonymous.
A Kaohsiung police officer said the approximately 120-apartment building was 40 years old and mostly occupied by low-income, elderly or disabled residents.
For now, forensic teams are still on site and new searches in the building are planned to possibly seek new victims.
This fire promises to be the deadliest in Taiwan for several decades.
The last fire with a death toll of a similar magnitude dates back to 1995, when 64 people died in a crowded karaoke club.