Taiwan apartment fire claims nine lives

Nine people, including foreign migrant workers, have been killed and two others slightly injured by a massive fire that broke out at a rental apartment in New Taipei City’s Zhonghe District in north Taiwan, local police said.

The fire was said to start on the fourth floor of the building at around 8:00 pm Wednesday and quickly spread to rooms on the fifth floor before being put down an hour later, according to local fire department.

Most of the rooms were reportedly rented to foreign migrant workers, says a Xinhua news agency report.  

Police later arrested a 49-year-old man for allegedly setting the fire after quarreling with one resident in the apartment.