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One dead and five injured after man ignites a gas tank

One dead and five injured after man ignites a gas tank

1 dead and 5 injured after man ignites gas

A man surnamed Lin ignited natural gas in his house early Thursday morning in Wanhua District, Taipei City, causing an explosion and fire that killed a woman and injured three firefighters and two police officers.

Taipei City Fire Department (TCFD) received a report at 5:10 a.m. on Thursday that a man was trying to commit suicide inside his residence on Xizang Rd.

TCFD team leader Hsieh En-chi said when they arrived on the scene, Lin, 60, had locked his house and would not answer the requests to open the door. Firefighters were later able to enter the house after Lin’s family giving them the key to the house.

Hsieh said that after they got into the house, they saw Lin and a 50-year-old woman were having an argument and the house smelled of gas. As firefighters proceeded to talk Lin into giving up his idea of causing harm to himself and others, Lin lit the gas with a lighter, and a ball of fire came rushing through in front of their eyes, which they had no way of dodging, Hsieh said, adding that the equipment on their bodies was torched and the walls of the house were blast open.

Police and firefighters immediately evacuated the crowd and residents around the house, and the fire was put out at 6:15 a.m. Lin suffered burns over 80 percent of his body and was unconscious, while the woman, whose body was blackened from burns, was not breathing and had no heartbeat. The woman later died despite receiving first aid.

Most of the injured police officers and firefighters suffered from partial thickness burns and chest pain, and all of them were not in life threatening conditions.

Wanhua Precinct said initial evidence suggested that Lin and the woman had an argument due to a debt between them and Lin ignited the gas out of anger during the argument. However, police said further investigation and details were needed to determine the motives behind the incident.