Two people are being investigated after a construction site incident in Taichung’s Central District (中區) on Thursday left three workers dead, police said yesterday.
A construction contractor and an excavator operator identified by their family names, Ku (古) and Yu (游), are being investigated by the Taichung District Prosecutors’ Office following questioning by local police.
An order to suspend work at the site was issued by the Taichung City Government after an adjacent two-story building collapsed on Thursday morning.
Photo courtesy of the Taichung City Government via CNA
The Taichung Fire Bureau said that rescue workers were dispatched to the scene after receiving a report at 10:44am that three people were trapped at the site.
A 51-year-old man pulled from the rubble at 11:15am with no vital signs was pronounced dead at 12:07pm after efforts to resuscitate him at Taichung Hospital, the bureau said.
Two other workers were pulled from the rubble at 10:55pm on Thursday and 1:23am yesterday, with both later pronounced dead at hospital.
An inspection indicated that the construction site, which is on a lane off Taiwan Boulevard, had no safety measures in place, the Taichung Urban Development Bureau said.
It issued the construction company an NT$18,000 fine for contraventions of the Building Act (建築法) and issued a document ordering the suspension of work at the site with immediate effect.
A separate inspection by the central Taiwan branch of the Ministry of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) found that the site did not have support and protection measures in place.
OSHA also ordered the construction company to suspend work and fined it NT$300,000 for contravening the Occupational Safety and Health Act (職業安全衛生法).
The company had not purchased labor insurance for the three deceased workers, although one had insurance as a fisherman, OSHA said.
It was unclear whether they were temporary or dispatch workers, as they had not signed formal employment contracts, said, adding that the case would be forwarded to the Bureau of Labor Insurance.
Lin Yu-hsin (林育信), who heads a nonprofit civil engineering association in Taichung, said the incident occurred after workers had dug a 1m deep by 60cm wide gutter on site.
The gutter probably undermined supports on the adjacent building, although a full investigation would be needed to formally determine the cause, Lin said.
Additional reporting by Tsai Shu-yuan
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