In this image taken from video by Taiwan's EBC, firefighters battle a blaze at a building in Kaohsiung, in southern Taiwan on Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021. A fire engulfed a 13-story building overnight in southern Taiwan, the island’s semi-official Central News Agency reported Thursday. (EBC via AP )
By Huizhong Wu
At least 46 people were killed and another 41 injured after a fire broke out early Thursday in a decades-old mixed commercial and residential building in the Taiwanese port city of Kaohsiung, officials said.
Neighborhood residents said the 13-story building was home to 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 housed a closed movie theater, abandoned restaurants and karaoke clubs.
Lin Chie-ying said she was awoken in her home across from the fire by the sounds of ambulances and fire trucks.
“I thought our home would burn up too,” she said.
The apartment building is one of many in the Yancheng district, an older part of Kaohsiung, a city of some 2.8 million people in southwestern Taiwan.
“For the families and Yancheng, I feel incomparable pain and I blame myself deeply,” Mayor Chen Chi Mai said at a news conference, bowing in apology. “Here I want to express my deepest sorrow to all the wounded and those who died, as well as their families and all the residents.”
It took firefighters until after 7 a.m. to extinguish the blaze. Many of the upper floors appeared not to have been damaged directly.
Late in the day, the smell of smoke still lingered throughout the area and the sound of shattering glass rang. Construction workers were raised on a crane to break out the remaining glass from window frames with a crowbar to remove further hazard.
Throughout Thursday, first responders pored through the wreckage and recovered dozens of bodies. Another 14 of 55 taken initially to the hospital were confirmed dead on arrival or shortly after.
The building’s age and piles of debris blocking access to many areas complicated search and rescue efforts, officials said, according to Taiwan’s Central News Agency.
It appears the fire broke out on the ground floor but it was not immediately clear exactly where and the cause was still under investigation.
The United Daily News said that investigators were focusing on a first-floor tea shop where the fire had started, and police were looking into a resident who reportedly fought with his girlfriend earlier on Wednesday. They had not ruled out arson, the newspaper said.
Fire extinguishers had been installed last month, but only three per floor because the residents could not afford to pay more, the United Daily News, a major newspaper, reported.
A 1995 fire at a nightclub in Taichung, Taiwan’s third-largest city, killed 64 people in the country’s deadliest such disaster in recent times.
The Cowboy State has become one of the world's top tax havens, according to the Pandora Papers, a trove of more than 11.9 million documents obtained by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists and The Washington Post. The papers reveal, among other things, how ultra-wealthy people from around the world move money into the U.S., invest, and spend it under a shroud of secrecy. Allison Tait, University of Richmond law professor, joined Cheddar to talk about Wyoming's laidback tax laws, their impact on the nation's economy, and provided some details on the financial arrangement known as the "cowboy cocktail."
With the New Year just around the corner, many people will be making new health and fitness goals. However, after the initial January push, it's easy to drop your resolutions and go back to your old habits. Joan Ifland, CEO of Food Addiction Reset, discusses her best tips for following through with New Year's Resolutions.
Despite the pandemic and the home workout revolution, many brick and mortar fitness companies have been able to stay afloat. Some even increased their membership during the pandemic, including Crunch Fitness. The Crunch franchise is celebrating 128% growth from pre-COVID membership levels as its 400th club enters pre-sale. Ben Midgley, CEO of Crunch Franchise, joined Cheddar to discuss how the company has been able to succeed during this time.
The pandemic prompted a shift toward personalized at-home workouts, and made health and wellness even more of a priority. In the early months of the pandemic, sales for fitness equipment, shoes and apparel skyrocketed as people adapted to working out in the solitude of their own homes. Even as gyms have reopened, some of these trends have stuck around. Jillian Michaels, personal trainer and creator of The Fitness App by Jillian Michaels, joined Cheddar to discuss the home workout revolution and give her advice on how to stick to your 2022 fitness goals.
A recent report finds that from March 2020 to September 2021, a total of 10,370 hate incidents against Asian American and Pacific Islander persons were reported to 'STOP AAPI HATE,' a non-profit organization that tracks incidents of hate and discrimination against AAPI in the U.S. Manjusha Kulkarni, executive director of AAPI Equity Alliance & co-founder of Stop AAPI Hate, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
When you take a look at American universities, you’ll find one thing most have in common, besides crazy high tuitions. If you look closely, you’ll notice that most of them look quite similar – like they’re straight out of the Middle Ages. Funny thing is, most of these school were established in the 1800s. So if these universities aren't as old...why is their architecture?
Carlo and Baker preview President Biden's address to the nation as Omicron becomes the new dominant Covid strain. Plus, Trump gets booed for getting his booster and the White House gets a new puppy.
Both AMC and Cinemark shares rose Friday after a pandemic-era record number of moviegoers attended the 'Spider-Man: No Way Home' opening night. The movie is expected to pull at least $150 million in box office sales opening weekend. But is this momentum enough for theater chains as the COVID-19 omicron variant poses new threats? Daniel Loria, Editorial Director at Boxoffice PRO, joins Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
The billionaire space race took off in 2021, making major strides in space tourism. That growth is only expected to skyrocket in the next year, as the government and private institutions and companies look to shape the final frontier's exploration. Cheddar News dives into the biggest moments of the year in space, and what comes next for space travel and tourism.
