A nighttime building fire in southern Taiwan that took hours to bring under control killed 46 people Thursday.
台湾省南部一栋大楼周四夜间起火，火情花了数小时才得以控制，造成46人遇难。

Officials in the city of Kaohsiung said at least 41 people were injured.
高雄市官员表示，至少还有41人受伤。

The fire started early Thursday morning local time. A statement by the fire department described it as "extremely fierce." Flames and smoke poured from the lower floors as firefighters tried to control the fire.
这场火灾于周四凌晨着起。消防部门的一份声明称火灾极其凶猛。消防员试图控制火势，火焰和烟雾从低楼层喷涌而出。

The number of dead rose during the day as rescue workers searched the building which combined businesses and homes. By late afternoon, officials confirmed 32 people had died, while 14 people, who showed no signs of life, were among 55 taken to the hospital. In Taiwan, official confirmation of a death is made at the hospital.
随着救援人员白天在这栋商住大楼展开搜救，死亡人数进一步上升。到下午晚些时候，官方证实有32人死亡，被送往医院的55人当中，也有14人没有了生命迹象。在台湾省，官方确认死亡是在医院进行的。

Firefighters could be seen spraying water into the middle floors of the 13-floor building. One woman, who was not identified, said on Taiwanese television that her 60-to-70 year old parents were still inside as rescue efforts continued.
可以看到消防员朝着这栋13层大楼的中间楼层喷水。随着救援工作的继续，一名身份不明的女士在台湾省的一家电视台上表示，她六七十岁的父母仍被困在屋内。

Taiwan's Central News Agency reported that officials said the building's age and waste blocking many areas made search and rescue efforts more difficult.
台湾省的中央通讯社报道称，官员们说这座大楼年代久远，许多区域被垃圾堵塞，导致搜救工作变得更加困难。

Many of the people living in the 40-year-old building were retired and lived alone in apartments as small as 13 square meters, local media reported. The building had 120 living spaces on the upper floors. It also had a closed movie theater, disused restaurants and karaoke businesses below them, the Central News Agency said. Mayor Chen Chi-mai said the building was partly abandoned.
据当地媒体报道，这栋有着40年楼龄的大楼里的许多住户都退休了，他们独自生活在这些小到13平米的公寓里。中央通讯社表示，这栋大楼的高楼层有120户。在他们楼下还有一家停业的电影院，有废弃的餐馆和卡拉OK厅。高雄市长陈其迈表示，这栋大楼已经部分废弃。

The United Daily News, a major newspaper, said fire extinguishers had been put in place last month. But there were only three on each floor because the residents could not pay for more.
台湾省重要媒体《联合日报》报道称，灭火器已于上个月安装到位。但是每层只有3个灭火器，因为居民买不起更多。

The fire appeared to have started on the ground floor.
这场火灾似乎是从一楼着起的。

Investigators were examining a first-floor tea shop whose owner reportedly fought with his girlfriend the day before. They had not ruled out that the fire may have been set on purpose, The United Daily News reported.
调查人员正在调查一楼的一家茶馆，据报道该茶馆老板前一天跟女友发生了争执。据《联合日报》报道称，他们不排除火灾可能是故意纵火。

I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.
我是小马里奥·里特。(51VOA.COM原创翻译，请勿转载，违者必究！)

A nighttime building fire in southern Taiwan that took hours to bring under control killed 46 people Thursday.

Officials in the city of Kaohsiung said at least 41 people were injured.

The fire started early Thursday morning local time. A statement by the fire department described it as "extremely fierce." Flames and smoke poured from the lower floors as firefighters tried to control the fire.

The number of dead rose during the day as rescue workers searched the building which combined businesses and homes. By late afternoon, officials confirmed 32 people had died, while 14 people, who showed no signs of life, were among 55 taken to the hospital. In Taiwan, official confirmation of a death is made at the hospital.

Firefighters could be seen spraying water into the middle floors of the 13-floor building. One woman, who was not identified, said on Taiwanese television that her 60-to-70 year old parents were still inside as rescue efforts continued.

In this image taken from video by Taiwan's EBC, firefighters battle a blaze at a building in Kaohsiung, in southern Taiwan, Oct. 14, 2021.

Taiwan's Central News Agency reported that officials said the building's age and waste blocking many areas made search and rescue efforts more difficult.

Many of the people living in the 40-year-old building were retired and lived alone in apartments as small as 13 square meters, local media reported. The building had 120 living spaces on the upper floors. It also had a closed movie theater, disused restaurants and karaoke businesses below them, the Central News Agency said. Mayor Chen Chi-mai said the building was partly abandoned.

The United Daily News, a major newspaper, said fire extinguishers had been put in place last month. But there were only three on each floor because the residents could not pay for more.

The fire appeared to have started on the ground floor.

Investigators were examining a first-floor tea shop whose owner reportedly fought with his girlfriend the day before. They had not ruled out that the fire may have been set on purpose, The United Daily News reported.

I'm Mario Ritter, Jr.

Huizhong Wu reported this story for the Associated Press. Mario Ritter Jr. adapted it for VOA Learning English with additional material from Reuters. Susan Shand was the editor.

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Words in This Story

apartment –n. a room or set of rooms that is part of a building and is used as a place to live which people pay to use but usually do not own

karaoke --–n. a form of entertainment in which a device plays the music of popular songs and people sing the words to the songs they choose

abandoned –adj. not taken care of; no longer used or kept up

fire extinguisher –n. a metal container filled with chemicals that is used to put out a fire

nightclub –n. a business that is open at night, has music, dancing and usually serves alcohol and food

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