The Pingtung County government said that the eight individuals - six men and two women - showed no signs of life after being rescued from the fire site and were declared dead despite emergency resuscitation efforts.

The local fire department received a report at 7:41 a.m. of thick smoke emanating from a building at Antai Tian-sheng Memorial Hospital, Xinhua news agency reported.

Addressing the media earlier, Su Ching-chyuan, the hospital's honorary dean, said that the fire was caused by the combustion of an air compressor in a hospital building's machine room, adding that most of the victims were elderly hospitalised patients.

Rescue personnel on-site told local media that the fire is now under control.