Typhoon battering southern Taiwan leaves at least nine dead in hospital fire

# Typhoon battering southern Taiwan leaves at least nine dead in hospital fire

A hospital fire in southern Taiwan killed at least nine people on Thursday as Typhoon Krathon lashed the island’s south with torrential rain and strong winds, turning an already dangerous weather emergency into a mass casualty event.

The fire broke out at a hospital in Pingtung County, an area that has been hit hard by the storm. According to the evidence packet, the people who died inhaled smoke from the blaze. The source of the fire was still under investigation, leaving open the question of whether the incident was linked to the severe weather, electrical failure, human error or another cause.

Krathon made landfall in Kaohsiung in the afternoon and brought the south of Taiwan to a standstill. The storm packed winds of 126 kph, or 78 mph, with higher gusts, according to Taiwan’s weather authorities. It had already doused eastern and southern parts of the island for five days, forcing thousands of people to evacuate from mountainous or low-lying areas. The hospital fire unfolded inside that wider emergency, complicating rescue work and putting pressure on local authorities already dealing with flooding and wind damage.

Soldiers from a nearby base were mobilized to help medical staff and firefighters evacuate patients and put out the flames. Reports in the evidence say 176 patients were rushed to the front entrance and transferred to ambulances or tarps used to shield them from heavy rain, then moved to nearby shelters. That response shows how quickly the situation shifted from a single building fire to a broader evacuation operation under storm conditions.

The weather administration told residents in Kaohsiung and Pingtung County not to go outside when the eye of the storm passed above their area. The storm had also caused substantial disruption beyond the hospital, with flooding and high winds damaging industries from fishing to chemicals and cutting off transportation routes and electrical networks.

Taiwan has spent years improving fire safety in public facilities, including smoking bans and stronger building regulations. The hospital deaths now raise questions about how those protections function under severe weather conditions, especially in facilities that must care for vulnerable patients when emergency services are stretched.

For the time being, the confirmed facts are limited but stark: a fire in a hospital in Pingtung County killed at least nine people, all of them said to have died from smoke inhalation, while Typhoon Krathon continued to batter the south of the island. The broader toll from the storm, including damage to roads, power systems and homes, was still unfolding as authorities responded.

The incident adds a tragic public-safety dimension to a weather disaster that had already disrupted daily life across southern Taiwan. As officials continue the investigation, the focus will remain on what started the fire, how quickly the evacuation proceeded and whether further casualties are uncovered.