Quake topples buildings in Taiwan, 14 dead

Tainan (Taiwan), February 6

As rescuers searched for survivors, questions were raised about the construction of the Wei-guan Golden Dragon Building in the southern city of Tainan, with its floors that pancaked down on each other when the 6.4 magnitude tremor hit around 4 am (2000 GMT).

Nine of the dead, including a 10-day-old girl, were from the apartment building. The baby was found in her dead father’s arms, the media reported.

Rescuers mounted hydraulic ladders and a crane to scour the ruins, plucking survivors to safety, with dozens taken to hospital.

An entire residential complex of four buildings containing almost 100 homes toppled, left on its side with twisted metal girders exposed and clouds of dust rising from the jumbled concrete.

Officials say they are unsure how many residents may still be inside, but media reports estimated at least 30 could be trapped.

Nearly 800 troops have been mobilised to help the rescue effort, with sniffer dogs also searching through the rubble.

“I saw buildings shake up and down and left and right,” said one resident, adding: “The first and second floor just collapsed.”

Another man tied his clothes together to create a rope and lowered himself from his home on the ninth floor to the sixth floor below, Apple Daily reported. A woman said: “I used a hammer to break the door of my home which was twisted and locked, and managed to climb out.”

Rescuers have freed more than 250 people from the apartment complex, with over 40 of them hospitalised. — Agencies