A fire at the "City within a City" building in Yancheng District, Kaohsiung City, Taiwan, in the early hours of Thursday (October 14), killed 46 people and injured 41 others. This morning (October 17), the identities of all 46 victims have been confirmed.
The prosecution preliminarily determined that the fire was caused by the suspect, a woman surnamed Huang, who had improperly used a fire in the room to cause the disaster. According to the current regulations in Taiwan, a woman surnamed Huang who died of negligence is punishable by a maximum sentence of 5 years in prison.
According to the prosecutor's investigation, the woman surnamed Huang and her boyfriend surnamed Guo drank and chatted in the suite on the first floor of the city at night on the 13th, during which the woman surnamed Huang lit sandalwood powder to repel mosquitoes. At about 11 o'clock in the evening, the man surnamed Guo left first, and in the early morning of the 14th, Huang Nu poured the incense powder that had not been completely extinguished directly into the garbage can and left, which eventually led to a tragic crime.
Xu Hongru, chief procurator of the Kaohsiung District Prosecutor's Office: The defendant surnamed Huang knew that he had lit agarwood incense, and before leaving, he should pay attention to whether the flame was completely extinguished, but neglected to pay attention to it, so that the flame that was not extinguished ignited by burning goods and causing a fire involved negligence. At present, the prosecutor has pleaded with the Kaohsiung District Court to detain Huang Nu on the grounds of death by negligence and fire. The man surnamed Guo was released on bail for NT$60,000.
However, according to the current laws and regulations in Taiwan, the sentence for the crime of fire is not more than 1 year, the maximum sentence for the crime of negligence causing death is 5 years, and according to the principle of "choosing one to be given a heavier punishment", the female suspect surnamed Huang can be sentenced to up to 5 years.
Source: CCTV4 China News