A fire engulfed an apartment building in suburban Taipei before dawn yesterday, killing at least 13 people and injuring dozens, officials said. A prosecutor said the fire was triggered by a woman's self-immolation following a family quarrel.

Police officers inspect a charred residential building near Taipei after a fire killed 13 people and injured at least 80 others, August 31, 2003. The fire broke out in the early hours of the morning and was brought under control by 2.45 am local time (1845 GMT), police said. [newsphoto.com.cn]

More than 70 people were hurt in the blaze, with many suffering bone fractures after they jumped from the eight-story building in Luchou before firefighters arrived, Taipei county chief Su Chen-chang told reporters.

Police said the injured also suffered from smoke inhalation.

Police first suspected arson. A prosecutor later said a woman suspecting her husband had an affair tried to commit suicide by igniting turpentine from a paint shop run by the couple on the ground floor of the building.

Turpentine spilled on the sidewalk and set alight scores of motorcycles parked there, prosecutor Lin Po-chih said.

A video camera installed at a nearby shop showed that the woman "poured turpentine on herself and became a fire ball" after she had a quarrel with her husband, Lin said.

The woman was hospitalized with burns over 80 per cent of her body, and her husband suffered minor burns, police said.

"Flames shot up quickly through the main stairway, blocking the escape of many residents," fire chief Yen Chen-chia said.

Television footage showed a woman holding her young son while sliding down a rope tied to the top floor railing, but they fell about two metres.

Both were hospitalized, and the boy was in critical condition with head injuries, Cable TV reported.

Others also slipped from ropes in the thick smoke and fire, television reports said.

Firefighters said many residents tried to slide too quickly down the ropes, attached to the top several floors, and were forced to let go and fall to the ground. It took more than an hour to put out the flames because fire trucks could not enter the narrow alleys leading to the building, Yen said.

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