Thank you for contacting us. We have received your submission.

Kaohsiung, Taiwan - On Friday, Taiwanese officials set up an independent committee to investigate the condition of a dilapidated building in the port city of Kaohsiung. The building had a fire that killed 46 people. The authorities looked for the cause of the fire in the blackened ruins.

Prosecutor Hong Ruifen told reporters at the scene that she would determine the cause of the fire on Thursday as soon as possible, then put on a safety helmet and walked into the blocked building in the morning.

Outside, a Taoist priest dressed in traditional robes prayed for the victims. Many of them were elderly and frail residents who could not leave the 13-story building after a fire broke out on the ground floor.

The city government stated that the building has been required to comply with fire regulations and be inspected, but inspectors have been unable to enter the premises recently because the door is always locked and they cannot coordinate the visit with the owner.

Mayor Chen Zhimai announced that he had instructed his deputy to set up an independent team to investigate whether negligence caused the tragic fire, and 41 others were injured.

Chen said that of the 46 dead, the identities of 21 have not yet been determined. He said that experts hope to use fingerprint analysis to determine who the other 19 deceased are, but for the other two, they will have to rely on other methods.

The lower floors of the building have commercial facilities, a closed cinema, restaurants and a karaoke bar-most of which are closed-there are about 120 housing units on it.

At around 3 am on Thursday, a fire broke out in the lower area. Witnesses reported hearing an explosion-like noise. The firefighters did not completely put out the fire until 7 o'clock in the morning.

Local media said that the police were interrogating a female resident of the building. She allegedly threw the burning incense rolls into the trash can in the apartment. She also stored small gas canisters in the apartment. According to reports, a man accidentally discarded cigarettes outside the building, and the possibility of a fire in the electrical system is also under investigation.

According to nearby residents, many poor, elderly and disabled people live in this building, and many people seem to be trapped in their apartments.

Li Maosheng, 61, who lives across the street, said his friend Zheng Yongkang died in the fire in a wheelchair.

In the past, the two would play mahjong together, but Li said that he had not seen his friend for a while because the elevator doors of the building often did not open and residents did not have the money to maintain it.

"Many of the people living in it are in poor health. Many of them have disabilities," Li said. He said that low rents are the main reason people live there under less than ideal conditions.

On Friday morning, barbed wire fences and supporting scaffolding blocked the building, and the street in front was reopened to traffic. The building does not seem to be in immediate danger of collapsing, although its lower level has turned black, and the exterior of the upper level apartment is also in heavy smoke.

Cai Xiuzhen, 70, has lived in this building for 15 years. She said she escaped wearing only clothes after hearing someone screaming "on fire" at 3 am.

"I didn't bring anything. I just care about saving my life," she said, sitting across from the burnt building on Thursday night, trying to deal with her experience by drinking beer with friends.

According to Taiwan’s Central News Agency, officials said that the building is old, and piles of debris hinder access to many areas, complicating search and rescue operations.

This apartment building with decades of history is one of many apartment buildings in Yancheng District, Kaohsiung City, with a population of approximately 2.8 million in southwestern Taiwan.

According to a major newspaper, Lianhe Daily, fire extinguishers have been installed last month, but there are only three fire extinguishers per floor because residents cannot afford more.

In 1995, a fire broke out in a nightclub in Taichung, Taiwan's third largest city, killing 64 people. This was the deadliest disaster of this kind in the country in recent years.