Two Chinese tourists missing since a magnitude 6.o earthquake hit the nation on Tuesday last week were confirmed dead yesterday, Hualien County Commissioner Fu Kun-chi (傅崐萁) said, raising the quake’s death toll to 17.
The pair were members of a family that had checked into the Beauty Inn (漂亮生活旅店) in the Yun Men Tsui Ti (雲門翠堤) building.
Fu’s announcement came after authorities called off further search efforts in the building at about 10am, 106 hours after the earthquake shook Hualien city and county, as well as a wide swathe of northern Taiwan and the east coast.
Photo: CNA
A group of search-and-rescue personnel bowed in front of the building, one of four that partly collapsed in the city, as a mark of respect before teams withdrew from the site to allow heavy machinery to start razing the complex.
According to the county government, the two Chinese tourists had a room on the hotel’s second floor.
Three other family members were found on Saturday, when rescuers expanded the search area by excavating from the fourth floor down to the second.
Fu confirmed that the pair’s bodies were found at about 4am yesterday, but rescuers had not been able to remove them from the debris because they were under a fallen girder.
“Removing the girder would cause the rest of the building to collapse,” Fu said.
The county government eventually decided that rescuers using machinery should start removing one floor of the building at a time, starting from the top, until they reach the ground and can remove the girder, he said.
The decision was made after consultation with members of the Chinese Union of Professional Civil Engineers Association and other experts, Fu said, adding that the goal was to be able to remove the bodies in their entirety.
Family members of the victims had also consented to the arrangement, Fu said.
However, before work crews can begin removing the floors, prosecutors and criminal investigation experts must inspect each floor for materials and possible evidence in case charges are later filed over the building’s collapse.
Authorities are also planning to raze the three other buildings that partly collapsed or tilted after the quake — the Marshal Hotel (統帥飯店) and two apartment buildings on Guosheng 6th Street — as they are a threat to the safety of neighborhood residents, Fu said.
The goal is to have all four razed by Friday, the second day of the Lunar New Year holiday, Fu said, adding that the time needed to remove these buildings would also depend on the progress prosecutors make in their search of the building.
Removal work would continue around the clock during the holiday, he said.
In related news, a magnitude 4.2 quake struck at 3:39pm yesterday, with Yenliao Village (鹽寮) in Hualien County’s Shoufeng Township (壽豐) registering a 5 on Taiwan’s seven-tier intensity scale, according to the Central Weather Bureau.
The hypocenter of the quake was 8km south-southwest of Hualien County Hall, at a depth of 15.4km, the bureau said.
Additional reporting by CNA
NATIONAL SECURITY THREAT: An official said that Guan Guan’s comments had gone beyond the threshold of free speech, as she advocated for the destruction of the ROC China-born media influencer Guan Guan’s (關關) residency permit has been revoked for repeatedly posting pro-China content that threatens national security, the National Immigration Agency said yesterday. Guan Guan has said many controversial things in her videos posted to Douyin (抖音), including “the red flag will soon be painted all over Taiwan” and “Taiwan is an inseparable part of China,” while expressing hope for expedited “reunification.” The agency received multiple reports alleging that Guan Guan had advocated for armed reunification last year. After investigating, the agency last month issued a notice requiring her to appear and account for her actions. Guan Guan appeared as required,
Japan and the Philippines yesterday signed a defense pact that would allow the tax-free provision of ammunition, fuel, food and other necessities when their forces stage joint training to boost deterrence against China’s growing aggression in the region and to bolster their preparation for natural disasters. Japan has faced increasing political, trade and security tensions with China, which was angered by Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s remark that a Chinese attack on Taiwan would be a survival-threatening situation for Japan, triggering a military response. Japan and the Philippines have also had separate territorial conflicts with Beijing in the East and South China
A strong cold air mass is expected to arrive tonight, bringing a change in weather and a drop in temperature, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The coldest time would be early on Thursday morning, with temperatures in some areas dipping as low as 8°C, it said. Daytime highs yesterday were 22°C to 24°C in northern and eastern Taiwan, and about 25°C to 28°C in the central and southern regions, it said. However, nighttime lows would dip to about 15°C to 16°C in central and northern Taiwan as well as the northeast, and 17°C to 19°C elsewhere, it said. Tropical Storm Nokaen, currently
PAPERS, PLEASE: The gang exploited the high value of the passports, selling them at inflated prices to Chinese buyers, who would treat them as ‘invisibility cloaks’ The Yilan District Court has handed four members of a syndicate prison terms ranging from one year and two months to two years and two months for their involvement in a scheme to purchase Taiwanese passports and resell them abroad at a massive markup. A Chinese human smuggling syndicate purchased Taiwanese passports through local criminal networks, exploiting the passports’ visa-free travel privileges to turn a profit of more than 20 times the original price, the court said. Such criminal organizations enable people to impersonate Taiwanese when entering and exiting Taiwan and other countries, undermining social order and the credibility of the nation’s
RSS