Taipei -
A man in Taiwan died after climbing into a hot-spring pool that was more than 50 percent hotter than usual, local media reported on Friday.
The 65-year-old had been drinking to celebrate his birthday before entering the free-access pool early on Thursday despite a warning of unusually high temperatures on the facility door, the United Daily News reported.
Chen Yuan-yi was found unconscious on the bathhouse floor in New Taipei City's Wanli district at around 4am (20.00 GMT) by another bather, and died shortly after at a local hospital, the report said.
He suffered second- and third-degree burns over 90 percent of his body, which sent him into shock and caused his death, police were quoted as saying.
Investigators registered the temperature of the pool, normally around a bearable 50 degrees Celsius, at 80 degrees. The high-temperature warning was posted after another spike in the temperature to the 70-80-degree range two months ago.
The bathhouse was now closed, and authorities said they were investigating the possibility that seismic changes caused the spikes. - Sapa-dpa