Update | Young girl rescued two days after Taiwan quake; toll could exceed 100
An eight-year-old girl pulled out alive from the rubble of a Taiwan apartment block on Monday more than 60 hours after it was toppled by an earthquake
Rescuers pulled out an eight-year-old girl alive from the rubble of a Taiwan apartment block on Monday more than 60 hours after it was toppled by an earthquake, as the mayor of the southern city of Tainan warned the death toll could exceed 100.
The official death toll from the quake rose to at least 38, with more than 100 people missing.
The girl, named as Lin Su-Chin, was conscious and had been taken to hospital, Taiwan television stations said, adding there were possibly two other people still alive in the wrecked building.
Mayor William Lai Ching-Te told reporters he briefly exchanged words with Lin.
“She is awake, but looks dehydrated, lost some temperature but she’s awake and her blood pressure is OK,” he said. “I asked her if there’s anything wrong with her body. She shook her head.”
Shortly afterward, rescue workers also pulled out a 28-year-old Vietnamese woman, identified as Chen Mei-jih, who had been trapped on what was the building’s fifth floor.
The quake struck at about 4 a.m. on Saturday (2000 GMT Friday) at the beginning of the Lunar New Year holiday, with almost all the dead found in Tainan’s toppled Wei-guan Golden Dragon Building.
Rescue efforts are focused on the wreckage of the 17-storey building, where more than 100 people are listed as missing and are suspected to be buried deep under the rubble.
Earlier, Wang Ting-yu, a legislator who represents the area, told reporters that a woman, identified as Tsao Wei-ling, was found alive lying under her dead husband. Their two-year-old son, who was also killed, was found lying nearby.
Another survivor, a man named Li Tsung-tian, was pulled out later, with Taiwan television stations showing live images of the rescues. Several hours later, Li’s girlfriend was found dead in the rubble.
Tsao and Li were both being treated in hospital.
Family members of the missing flooded into the information center in search of their loved ones or to wait anxiously.
Tensions rose as some relatives, losing patience, demanded to speak to rescue workers directly to get the latest information.
A couple sitting in a small room where officials release information said they had heard no news about their son and his family, including their young grandsons.
Mayor Lai earlier said during a visit to a funeral home that rescue efforts had entered what he called the “third stage”.
“There are more fatalities than those pulled out (alive), and the number of fatalities will probably exceed 100,” Lai told reporters.
Rescuers continued to scramble over the twisted wreckage of the building as numbed family members stood around, waiting for news of missing relatives.
Taiwan’s government said in a statement 36 of the 38 dead were from the Wei-guan building, which was built in 1994.
The spectacular fall of the high-rise raised questions about whether its construction had been shoddy. The government says it will investigate whether the developer cut corners.
Reuters witnesses at the scene of the collapse saw large rectangular, commercial cans of cooking-oil packed inside wall cavities exposed by the damage, apparently having been used as building material.
The extended Lunar New Year holiday officially started Monday, but celebrations were subdued and both President Ma Ying-jeou and President-elect Tsai Ing-wen canceled the traditional handing out of envelopes of cash in their hometowns.
Tsai Ing-wen, who won election last month, said there needed to be a “general sorting out” of old buildings to make sure they were able to cope with disasters like earthquakes.
“There needs to be a continued strengthening of their ability to deal with disasters,” she said.
Outgoing President Ma Ying-jeou, speaking to reporters at a Tainan hospital, said the government needed to be a better job in ensuring building quality.
“In the near future, regarding building management, we will have some further improvements. We will definitely do this work well,” Ma said.
Across Taiwan Strait, President Xi Jinping also conveyed condolences to the victims, state news agency Xinhua reported late on Sunday, and repeated Beijing’s offer to provide help.
Beijing views self-ruled Taiwan as a wayward province, to be bought under its control by force if necessary, after Kuomintang lost the civil war in 1949 and retreated to Taiwan.
Reuters, Associated Press