rise blaze in Taiwan = Taipei, Feb 26, SPA-- Four people died when fire broke out on an upper floor of a 23-storey high-rise in downtown Taichung on Saturday, said police in the island's third largest city. More than 100 firemen required several hours to control the blaze that broke out on the eighteenth floor. Helicopters were called in to rescue people stranded on the roof. Two security officers and an executive of one of the department stores in the building were among the four fatalities. Three people were injured. At least nine people were airlifted to safety from the roof, nearly 150 metres above street level, police said. Hundreds of people were evacuated as thick black smoke and flames poured out of broken windows on the eighteenth floor. People sheltered their heads from falling glass as they ran for safety below. A gas explosion on the eighteenth floor, which housed a restaurant, tentatively was identified as the cause of the blaze. The 178-metre Golden Plaza, is the second tallest building in Taichung. The city lies inland, about halfway down the west coast of Taiwan.
