At least nine dead in Taiwan hospital fire

At least nine people were killed in a fire at a hospital in Taiwan, state media has reported.

The fire broke out in New Taipei's Xinzhuang District killing nine and injuring 16, reported CNA.

The New Taipei Fire Department reports that a fire broke out on the seventh floor of the Taipei Hospital in the senior care centre at 4:36 a.m. The Fire Department quickly dispatched 79 vehicles of various types and 243 firefighters to the scene and by 5:27 a.m., the fire had been extinguished.

The cause of the fire is not yet clear, though media reports say it could have been started by an electrical fault in a moveable bed.

Reports say 33 patients and three staff members were evacuated from the Weifu hospital in the northern region of the city after a fire broke out at 04:36 on Monday (20:36 GMT Sunday).

According to CNA, police found that the ward was not equipped with "required smoke exhaust equipment".