The heads of the Kaohsiung Fire Bureau and Public Works Bureau on Tuesday resigned over a deadly fire that claimed 46 lives earlier this month.
The fire at the 40-year-old Cheng Chung Cheng (城中城) building broke out in the early hours of Oct. 14 and engulfed six floors of the 13-story building, killing 46 residents and injuring 43.
Fire Bureau Chief Lee Ching-hsiu (李清秀) and Public Works Bureau Director-General Su Chih-hsun (蘇志勳) had handed their resignations to Kaohsiung Mayor Chen Chi-mai (陳其邁) after the fire, the city government said in a statement on Wednesday.
Chen held off on accepting their resignations and told
KNOWN ISSUES: Fire safety issues were found in the 40-year-old building, which previously housed a theater and restaurants, in 2019, last year and May, an official saidBy Ge You-hao, Huang Hsu-lei and Jonathan Chin / Staff reporters, with staff writer and agencies
Forty-six people died and 41 were injured in a building fire that raged out of control for hours overnight in Kaohsiung, authorities said yesterday.
Flames and smoke billowed from the lower floors of the 13-story Cheng Chung Cheng (城中城) building on Fubei Road in Yancheng District (鹽埕), as firefighters tried to douse the blaze from the street and aerial platforms.
The death toll rose steadily through the day as rescue workers searched the combined commercial and residential building. By late afternoon, authorities said 32 bodies had been found, while a further 14 people who showed no signs of life were among 55