In Taiwan, eight people were killed in a fire that broke out in a hospital in Pingtung this morning. The Pingtung County government said that eight people rescued from the fire site were declared dead. According to a news agency, the local fire department received a report of thick smoke emanating from a building at Antai Tian-sheng Memorial Hospital.

Addressing the media earlier, hospital authorities said that the fire was caused by the combustion of an air compressor in a hospital building’s machine room, adding that most of the victims were elderly hospitalised patients.