Former residents of the Tunghsing Building (
The 12-story complex, situated on Taipei's Pateh Road, collapsed in seconds, killing 87 residents during the earthquake last year. The casualties and property damage at the Tunghsing Building are claimed to be the most serious in Taipei City.
Former residents of the ill-fated building, accompanied by lawyers and human rights activists, rallied at the Taipei District Court yesterday to file the suit against the management of the Hung Kuo Group, Lin Hsieh Han-chien (
Tunghsing residents said they are seeking compensation of NT$2.5 billion from the group as they believe the collapse of the building was due to poor structural design.
Reports conducted by the Control Yuan and by the Taipei Civil Engineers' Association have indicated the collapse resulted from structural and design problems inherent in the building, according to Cheng Wen-lung (
The report conducted by the civil engineers' association found that 60 percent of samples of debris taken from the building's ruins pointed to substandard building materials.
Cheng successfully assisted the residents of the Doctors' Home in Taipei County, which also collapsed in the quake, in reaching a settlement in September with the builders of the complex.
The lawyer said the Tunghsing Building was constructed in 1980 by Hung Gu Construction (鴻固營造), which he said was an affiliate of the Hung Kuo Group.
Hung Kuo has always claimed, however, that it did not become a shareholder in Hung Gu until 1981 and that it was not involved in the construction of the Tunghsing Building.
Hung Kuo has also stated that neither Lin Hsieh Han-chien nor her two sons are responsible for deaths and injuries of the former Tunghsing residents.
Tiffany Lee (
She said that she and other residents had been present at the district court exactly a year ago to file a criminal charge against Hung Gu Construction. Although a year has passed, none of those being blamed for the tragedy have accepted any responsibility, she said.
"Not a single word of apology, let alone any compensatory acts," she said.
Apart from legal action, the residents have pressed the Taipei City Government to mediate so that the disputes, and other similar ones, might be resolved as soon as possible.
According to Lee, the city government has told them it has invited three defendants of the Hung Kuo Group to negotiate with former Tunghsing residents on Nov. 6. Residents, however, said they thought it was unlikely the three representatives would show up for the meeting.
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