Nine die in Taiwan plastics factory fire

A fire at a plastics factory in the central Taiwanese city of Taichung yesterday killed at least nine people, including two children.

The fire broke out early in the morning at the factory, where about a dozen employees and their relatives had stayed overnight after a party, fire officials said.

Most of the dead were sleeping on the second floor when the fire broke out. Among the dead were a mother and her 11-year-old daughter, and a father and his 10-year-old son, they said.