Premier Simon Chang (張善政) yesterday pledged to provide all necessary assistance to the Tainan City Government and people affected by Saturday’s earthquake, which has killed 29 people and injured more than 500.
Chang made the remarks after visiting people wounded after the magnitude 6.4 quake at Tainan’s Sin-Lau Hospital yesterday morning, where an injured mother begged the premier to help find her two missing sons.
“This injured woman was a resident at the toppled 17-story Weiguan Jinlong apartment building in the city’s Yongkang District (永康). She lost her husband and 10-day-old daughter during the earthquake. Her two boys are still trapped under the ruins of the building,” Chang said.
Photo: Tyrone Siu, Reuters
The premier said it was heart-wrenching to learn of the plight of the woman, who wept as she told her story.
Many more families of the victims of the quake are experiencing similar distress, Chang said, adding that what he could do at the moment was to offer them some consolation money and tell them to take care of themselves.
“Emergency workers will continue to work around the clock to try to rescue as many people as possible,” Chang said.
The Weiguan Jinlong complex was the most severely hit structure by the quake and its aftershocks, which also left several other buildings in the city at alarming angles.
At press time last night, at least 120 people were still believed to be buried under the debris of the Weiguan Jinlong building, the Tainan City Government said.
Chang also questioned the polystyrene and tins that were found stuffed inside some of the beams and columns of the Weiguan Jinlong building.
“Tainan Mayor William Lai (賴清德) has vowed to seek justice on behalf of residents of the residential complex if the building is determined to have been jerry-built,” the premier said.
If that is the case, the central government will also provide legal aid and other forms of assistance to help residents and the city government claim compensation, he said.
Later yesterday, Chang went to the Weiguan Jinlong building for a second time to listen to Lai’s briefing on rescue and relief operations in the city.
“The city government has been quite thorough and clear-minded in its rescue operations. While the Executive Yuan is not on the rescue front-line, we will be a strong backup force that provides necessary support,” he said.
Chang said his visits to the affected areas were not aimed at interfering with or disrupting rescue work, but rather to express his gratitude and respect to all front-line emergency workers.
“I came here to distribute meal subsidies to the rescue workers ... to give them the nutrition and strength needed to carry out rescue work to the last second,” he said.
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