Skip to content
The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper

The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper

Title

Name

Primary Menu
  • Home
  • Mindanao
  • Visayas
  • National
  • Features
  • Opinion
  • Business
  • International
  • SciTech
  • Health & Wellness
  • Sports
  • About Us
    • Regional Advertising Rates
    • Contact Us
    • Profile
  • Home
  • International
  • Taiwan earthquake: Man rescued but scores are missing – BBC News
  • Featured
  • International

Taiwan earthquake: Man rescued but scores are missing – BBC News

Desk Editor February 7, 2016

Rescuers have pulled a 20-year-old man from the rubble of an apartment block more than a day after it was destroyed by an earthquake in the Taiwanese city of Tainan.

Taiwanese TV showed Huang Kuang-wei being rescued alive to cheers from his family and emergency workers.

At least 124 people are missing after the collapse of the 17-storey block during Saturday’s quake, officials say.

At least 20 people are now confirmed dead after the magnitude 6.4 tremor.

Tainan Mayor Lai Ching-te said many of the missing were buried deep inside the ruins of the apartment block.

The building is one of several in Tainan city that collapsed during the quake.

Among the dead was a newborn baby. Nearly 500 people were injured, at least 92 of whom remain in hospital.

he 17 storeys of the Weiguan Jinlong (Golden Dragon) apartment complex, home to at least 256 people, crumpled down on each other as the quake took hold just before 04:00 (20:00 GMT on Friday).

More than 200 people were rescued, but a baby, young girl and two adult men were among 12 in the complex who did not survive, officials said. Elsewhere in the city, at least two other victims were killed by falling debris.

Hundreds of soldiers have joined in the rescue effort, with the help of hi-tech equipment and rescue dogs, and shelters are due to be set up for those who have lost their homes in the city of two million people.

More than 24 hours after the earthquake, fire fighters, police, soldiers and volunteers were picking through the ruins, some using their hands.

A woman surnamed Chang said she was waiting to hear from her daughter, who lived on the fifth floor of the fallen apartment block.

“She’s not answering my phone calls. I am trying to hold my emotions and stay strong. I’ll do that until I find her,” she said.

“I know they will find her, but I have also prepared for the worst,” she added.

A man in his 60s, whose son escaped and whose daughter-in-law was in serious condition, was trying to help rescuers pinpoint his 11- and 12-year-old grandsons.

Interior Minister Chen Wei-jen said investigators would examine whether the building’s construction met requirements.

The quake was shallow, meaning its effects would have been amplified, the US Geological Survey said.

There were also at least five aftershocks. The quake was felt in the capital Taipei, 300km away.

Taiwan lies near the junction of two tectonic plates and often sees tremors.

China has offered assistance although at the moment at least, given the relatively limited scale of the disaster, it does not look as if much outside help is needed, the BBC’s John Sudworth reports from Beijing.

Back in 1999, when a 7.6 magnitude quake killed more than 2,300 people in central Taiwan, a similar offer of help from the mainland became embroiled in political wrangling, with Taiwan accusing China of exploiting the situation for its own political ends, our correspondent adds.(BBC News)

Link: http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-35514888

 

fb-share-icon
Tweet 20

Continue Reading

Previous: Tunisia completes barrier along Libya border – Al Jazeera
Next: A Spanish right of return for Sephardic Jews? – Al Jazeera

Related News

Ursula-von-der-Leyen
  • International

EU to ban all Russian fossil fuel imports by 2027, says von der Leyen

Desk Editor May 7, 2025
India-Pakistan War
  • International

3 civilians killed in Jammu and Kashmir in cross-border firing by Pakistan: Indian Army

Desk Editor May 7, 2025
P20rice-PIA
  • Featured
  • Visayas

Tears of gratitude: Elderly Cebuano first to benefit from PBBM’s P20 Rice Program

Desk Editor May 7, 2025

Trending News

Cebu province stocks 11K sacks of rice for P20/kilo program resumption NFA-rice-PIA 1

Cebu province stocks 11K sacks of rice for P20/kilo program resumption

May 9, 2025
PhilHealth and MMDA unveil “Payong ng Kapanatagan” mural along EDSA to celebrate Public Service and Health Protection PhilHealth_MMDA-Mural-Unveiling2 2

PhilHealth and MMDA unveil “Payong ng Kapanatagan” mural along EDSA to celebrate Public Service and Health Protection

May 9, 2025
Self-rated poverty drops to 42%, food poverty to 35% – OCTA Philippines_Poverty_Mel_Hattie 3

Self-rated poverty drops to 42%, food poverty to 35% – OCTA

May 9, 2025
PH to become $2-T economy by 2050 Bonifacio-Global-City_and_Makati_skylines 4

PH to become $2-T economy by 2050

May 8, 2025
Metrobank Tops 2025 PDS Annual Awards Metrobank-Annual-Awards 5

Metrobank Tops 2025 PDS Annual Awards

May 8, 2025
  • Facebook
  • X
  • YouTube
  • Blog
Copyright © 2025. The Mindanao Examiner Regional Newspaper. All Rights Reserved.