Taiwan hospital fire kills 12, injures 72

At least 12 people were killed and 72 injured when a blaze tore through a hospital in southern Taiwan on Tuesday, health authorities said. The fire started in the early hours in a nursing facility housing mainly bed-bound patients in Tainan city, a local health official said. The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals for treatment and the cause of the fire was under investigation, she said. A fire official told reporters that the blaze possibly started in a storage room on the second floor of the five-storey building, part of the public Sinying Hospital. Premier Sean Chen expressed his shock at the incident and sent his condolences to the families of the victims, his office said in a statement.