Love candles set hotel ablaze

A Taiwanese man's show of love for his girlfriend backfired, well, literally, after an arrangement of candles reading I Love You started a blaze in a hotel.

The couple found their room aflame when they walked in 40 minutes after the man called Lin had set the candles alight, according to local media reports.

"Lin was arrested later and brought to trial," the China Post newspaper said. He was charged with endangering public safety.

Lin, a frozen-food deliveryman, agreed to pay the suburban Taipei hotel T$120,000 ($35,400) for damage caused by the blaze on May 31, media reported.

A county prosecutor later suspended the indictment in exchange for an apology letter and a donation of T$30,000 to a family and children fund, media and a county spokesman said.