Dozens still trapped beneath the hotel rubble

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 (東興大樓) on Pateh Road in the Sungshan district. The collapse of the 12-story structure killed three people and around 60 people remain trapped or missing.

In Taipei County, the most serious damage occurred in Hsinchuang where a 12-story building collapsed, killing 13 people and injuring around 160.

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 (許文生), an employee at an adjacent building, the Li-chien Hotel (立建賓館), was there when it happened.

"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."

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 (歐晉德). By 7pm yesterday, 113 people had been rescued, although three people had later died in hospital.

Around 60 people remain trapped in the wreckage, police said.

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 (呂美怡), a graduate student, gazed anxiously at a list of names of casualties who had already been dispatched to local hospitals. She was looking for a friend who was believed to be still in the wreckage.

"I couldn't find him," she said.

For Lin Chin-lien (林金鍊) , a 65-year-old survivor of the building collapse, there was good news.

"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 (第一商業銀行) -- which was located on the first and second floors of the building -- involved the knocking out of some pillars. They said the work may have endangered the structure of the building.

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 (莊忠鵬), chairman of the appraisal committee at the Taipei Civil Engineering Technicians' Association, examined the first level of the basement of the building yesterday morning.