The earthquake that rocked Taiwan yesterday morning killed four and injured 279 in Taipei City, as of 9pm yesterday.
The heaviest casualties occurred in the Tunghsing Building (
In Taipei County, the most serious damage occurred in Hsinchuang where a 12-story building collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring around 160.
PHOTO: CHIANG YING-YING, TAIPEI TIMES
The earthquake hit the 16-year-old Tunghsing building -- which houses a bank, an apartment complex and a hotel -- hard. The quake caused the bottom stories of the building to fold and collapse, sending the rest of the badly-damaged structure falling against an adjacent building.
Hsu Wen-sheng (
"As soon as the shaking started, I went up to the roof to discover that the building had collapsed, sending dust everywhere," Hsu said. "Then I heard people shouting `help.' I used my flashlight to try to signal to them -- only to see people (trapped in the building) wave a white cloth for assistance. But all I could do was signal them with my flashlight -- to let them know that at least people were aware of their situation. I also saw some people trying to climb out of the tilted building, but gas was already leaking out."
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
The gas leakage ignited a fire that was not under control until 7am, police said.
Over 80 people were rescued from the collapsed building within the first hour, according to Taipei City Deputy Mayor Ou Chin-der (
Around 60 people remain trapped in the wreckage, police said.
PHOTO: KUO RUEI-CHENG, LIBERTY TIMES
Relatives and friends of people trapped or missing inside the building gathered nearby.
"We lived in the fifth floor," a woman said, almost breaking down in the arms of family members who had survived the disaster.
"[My daughter] is still inside. She still hasn't gotten out."
Lu Mei-yi (
"I couldn't find him," she said.
For Lin Chin-lien (
"All of my five family members were saved," he said. "I was trapped under a wardrobe in the corner [of the room], unable to move. And my wife couldn't move, either. And the water from the fire hose [being used to douse fires in the wreckage] hit me like a waterfall, pulling me down. But I finally managed to push away the wardrobe and climbed up two floors to escape. It's a relief to know that all of my family finally escaped."
Some residents said that recent renovation work at the First Commercial Bank (
However, civil engineers who completed preliminary investigations following the quake said further investigation is needed to determine the cause of the building's collapse.
Chuang Chung-peng (
He said that the first four floors were squeezed into the first level of the basement.
The city government set up a disaster command center at the city's fire department, with a crisis management center established at the nearby Sungshan District Police Station.
City officials also arranged for residents of the collapsed building to set up lodgings at the Sungshan Elementary School, the Tzuai Temple and the Sungshan District Office. The Hyatt Hotel has also offered 30 rooms for residents of the building on a temporary basis. The Li-chien Hotel also offered 14 rooms for residents to use.
Taipei Mayor Ma Ying-jeou (
"We will not give up any opportunity to save anyone who might have survived," Ma said.
Meanwhile, the most serious building collapse in the Taipei County area -- a 12-story residential building, located on Mingan Road in Hsinchuang -- killed 13, including a pregnant woman, and injured around 160, police said. Police said that about 30 people remained trapped in the wreckage, as of 10pm yesterday.
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