TAIPEI (AFP) – A Taiwanese woman who set off the island’s deadliest fire in decades to get back at her boyfriend escaped the death penalty yesterday as the court handed down a life sentence.
Last October’s inferno in the city of Kaohsiung raged through multiple floors of a dilapidated 13-storey apartment block for hours, killing 46 people and injuring 41.
Authorities had said the blaze started when the defendant Huang Ke-ke, 51, left unextinguished incense ashes on a sofa.
Huang was indicted on murder and arson charges in January, with prosecutors seeking her execution.
Prosecutors said she deliberately started the fire to “embarrass” her boyfriend, who she suspected of cheating.
