Fire in southern Taiwan kills 46

TAIPEI: A fire in a residential building in the southern Taiwanese city of Kaohsiung has killed 46 peopleand injured another 41, the government said on Thursday.

The fire broke out in the 40-year-old building in Kaohsiung’s Yancheng district in the early hours of the morning and was extinguished around dawn.

The Kaohsiung fire department said in a statement that after completing a search of the building they were able to confirm 46 deaths.

Mayor Chen Chi-mai said the building was partly abandoned, having previously been host to restaurants, karaoke lounges and a cinema.

The government is investigating the cause including whether arson was to blame.

Man armed with bow and arrow kills five people in Norway attacks

Separately reported yesterday from the macabre scene internationally, a man armed with a bow and arrow killed five people and wounded two others in a series of attacks in the Norwegian town of Kongsberg on Wednesday, local police said.

The suspect was in custody, police added.

“The man used a bow and arrow … for some of the attacks,” police chief Oeyvind Aas told reporters. The police were investigating whether other weapons had also been used, he said.