<img src='https://news.cgtn.com/news/2024-10-03/Mainland-sends-condolences-after-Taiwan-hospital-fire-1xpakZsVj2w/img/cc058aa335b54e498b45b2d1c8514526/cc058aa335b54e498b45b2d1c8514526.png' alt='A photo released by the Pingtung County government shows a fire that broke out at a hospital in Pingtung County in southern Taiwan, China, October 3, 2024. /CFP'
The Taiwan Affairs Office of China’s State Council on Thursday sent condolences to the families of the victims and the injured following a hospital fire in southern Taiwan’s Pingtung County that killed nine people.
“We are saddened by such an accident. We express our condolences to the Taiwan compatriots who lost their lives and sincere sympathy to the bereaved families and the injured, ” spokesperson Zhu Fenglian said in a statement.
At 7:41 a.m. on Thursday, the local fire department received a report about thick smoke emanating from a building at Antai Tian-sheng Memorial Hospital in Pingtung.
Hospital authorities said the combustion of an air compressor in a hospital building’s machine room caused the fire and that most of the victims were elderly hospitalized patients.
(With input from Xinhua)
