The seven-floor Manbo Hotel (曼波假期飯店) in Hualien County collapsed yesterday afternoon during its demolition process, crushing three vehicles.
As of press time last night, there were no casualties, local authorities said.
The Hualien County Police Department said it has reviewed footage of CCTV cameras along the road following reports that a scooter rider had been crushed by the collapse.
Photo courtesy of a member of the public via CNA
However, the rider, surnamed Wang (王), had called the county goverment to report that he was safe, and had visited the nearest police station to sign an affidavit.
The county government said it is in contact with Bai Sheng Construction Co (百盛營造), which was in charge of the demolition, to check if there might be any people trapped in the debris.
If there are none, the department said it would be deploying heavy machinery to remove the rubble and work through the night to restore road access by 10am today, although rainfall in the region would make the process more difficult.
Photo courtesy of a reader
The county government has established a category 1 disaster reaction center across the collapsed building.
It said it has asked concerned authorities to submit documents, includings permits and licenses, relating to Bai Sheng and its demolition plans to better understand what might have caused the building to collapse.
The Hualien County Fire Department said there had been a couple of fire incidents related to the crushed vehicles. Parts of the collapsed building also hit a Taiwan Power Co (台電) transformer in the area, resulting in a temporary power outage in the immediate vicinity of Guolian 5th Road and Guomin 9th Street.
Power had been restored to most users as of 4:30pm yesterday.
Bai Sheng’s subcontractor, Ya Guo Construction Co (亞國機械), yesterday said that the building’s front supporting columns could have cracked due to earthquakes or during the demolition process and were unable to support the weight of the building.
Additional reporting by CNA
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