Developer held over deadly quake building collapse in Taiwan
Man accused of negligent manslaughter after block of flats partially collapsed during earthquake in Hualien earlier this month
The developer of a building in Taiwan that partially collapsed during an earthquake has been detained for negligent manslaughter with prosecutors saying the man was not licensed to oversee construction projects.
The lower floors of the 12-storey Yun Tsui residential building – which also housed a restaurant and hotel – pancaked when a 6.4-magnitude quake struck the tourist hotspot of Hualien on February 6.
A total of 17 people died across the eastern coastal town, 14 of them in the Yun Tsui building.
The toll included a Chinese couple from Beijing whose crushed bodies were only retrieved this week.
Yun Tsui’s developer, surnamed Liu, was detained on Tuesday on suspicion of “manslaughter due to occupational negligence”, while three others were questioned and released on bail. They have not yet formally been charged.
The Hualien District Prosecutors Office alleged that Liu did not have the necessary engineering qualifications yet oversaw the building’s construction instead of contracting a professional firm.