Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-10
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Heavy machinery continued to drill around the toppled Weiguan Jinlong building Wednesday, removing debris layer by layer in hope that this will allow rescue workers to find more survivors buried under the rubble.

According to authorities in the morning, rescuers have detected signs of life on the 14th floor of the collapsed Block F apartment (F14), and are just 1.8 meters shy of reaching to the bottom of the debris.

The 6.4 magnitude quake in southern Taiwan last Saturday has so far left 41 people dead, of which the Weiguan building alone accounted for 39 deaths. In total, more than 500 were injured, while 99 people currently remain to be found at the apartment complex.

“Rescuers have picked up tapping noises at the bottom of the F14 rubble, and are working relentlessly to reach the survivor,” Tainan Mayor William Lai told reporters.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-10
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Rescuers are calling for the public to stay away from the perimeter of the

rescue sites in Tainan as their presence near the collapsed Weiguan Jinlong building often obstruct them, including heavy-duty machinery operators, from doing their jobs properly, reports said Wednesday.

Since the beginning of their search and rescue efforts, rescue teams have witnessed areas surrounding the Weiguan apartment complex to be jammed packed with cars as engineers, reporters, and officials flock to the scene of the disaster.

To make matters even worse, onlookers also come to watch out of curiosity, affecting gravel truck drivers who need to go in and out of the rescue sites carrying huge boulders and debris from the fallen building.

Meanwhile, local authorities again urged people to stay away from the scene to allow rescuers to carry out their work.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/10
By: Yang Sz-ruei and Kuo Chung-han

Taipei, Feb. 10 (CNA) A victim claimed on social media Wednesday that the

removal of columns, beams and walls in the lower stories of an apartment complex in Tainan contributed to its collapse in the Feb. 6 earthquake that left dozens dead.

The woman surnamed Cheng said on her Facebook page that all of the beams, columns and walls on the first to fourth floors of buildings A, B and C of the Weiguan Jinlong complex were removed seven years ago by their owner, a Ms. Lan, to be able to rent the space for more money.

Cheng, who supported her claim with a picture and written statement, said the structural changes were reported to local authorities but were not pursued.     [FULL  STORY]

CHANGE IN TACTICS:Search teams are going to focus on finding survivors and may delay the retrieval of any bodies that they discover, a Tainan deputy mayor said

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 11, 2016
By: Shelley Shan / Staff reporter, with CNA

More bodies were extricated from the collapsed Weiguan Jinlong complex in

Tainan’s Yongkang District (永康) yesterday, raising the death toll from Saturday’s earthquake to 47.

The 17-story complex, which consisted of four buildings divided into nine residential sections, has been the main source of casualties from the magnitude 6.4 quake.

Among the 47 people killed in the quake, 45 were found in the Weiguan Jinlong ruins.

Rescuers yesterday continued the painstaking search for at least 90 people who remain unaccounted for, all believed to be trapped in the collapsed complex.
At midnight yesterday, they were encouraged to hear a person inside knocking on the wall.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-09
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Rescuers deployed heavy machinery Tuesday in a renewed effort to locate more than 120 people trapped in the rubble of a collapsed apartment complex as the 72-hour “golden window” for finding survivors just passed.

Tainan Mayor William Lai gave rescue teams the “go” sign at 4 a.m. to expedite the rescue effort because time is running out to save any of the people who remain trapped and might still be alive.

According to authorities, rescuers have found signs of life in Blocks F and E among the Weiguan Jinlong debris, and are currently working to locate the survivors.

There have been some dramatic rescues, including an eight-year-old girl and three others pulled from the wreckage Monday.     [FULL STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/09
By: Chang Jung-hsiang and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Feb. 9 (CNA) Rescue workers found the body of a 15-year-old boy in the rubble of a collapsed building in Tainan Tuesday, bringing the death toll to 41 in the aftermath of a magnitude 6.4 earthquake that hit southern Taiwan three days ago.

Rescue work has continued around the clock at the site of the collapsed 16-story Weiguan Jinlong apartment complex in Tainan City’s Yongkang District.

Of the 41 people confirmed dead, 39 were residents of the building, according to Tainan’s fire department. The two others died in the city’s Gueiren District.

As of Tuesday noon, 109 people were still believed to be trapped in the collapsed building, the fire department said.     [FULL  STORY]

WEIGUAN JINLONG TALKS:Ko Ching-chung said he had given up hope of being rescued, while eight-year-old Lin Su-chin told her grandparents she wanted snacks

Taipei Times
Date: Feb 10, 2016
By: AP, TAINAN

After propping himself against a wall for 20 hours to avoid smothering his

girlfriend, Ko Ching-chung’s strength was draining away.

The young couple had been trapped in Saturday’s pre-dawn collapse of the Weiguan Jinlong complex in Tainan’s Yongkang District (永康) following a strong earthquake. Outside, rescuers were frantically searching for survivors amid the smashed concrete and twisted iron.

“Toward the end, to tell you the truth, I had already given up,” Ko told broadcaster FTV from his hospital bed on Monday, a day after he and his girlfriend were rescued.

“I had no strength left to hold myself up anymore. My body fell on top of her. She would have soon not been able to breathe. I said to her I had to lie on top of her, and she said to me it’s OK,” he said.     [FULL  STORY]

Focus Taiwan
Date: 2016/02/09
By: Yeh Tzu-kang and Y.F. Low

Taipei, Feb. 9 (CNA) Tainan prosecutors on Tuesday requested the court’s permission to detain three former executives of the real estate development company that built the Weiguan Jinlong apartment complex, which collapsed in a magnitude 6.4 earthquake three days ago in southern Taiwan.

As part of their investigation into the collapse of the building, prosecutors are seeking the detention of Lin Ming-hui (林明輝), former chairman of the now-defunct Weiguan company, and two other former executives Chang Kui-an (張奎安) and Cheng Chin-kui (鄭進貴), on charges of professional negligence resulting in death.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-09
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Construction firm owner Lin Ming-hui and his two business associates were taken into custody Tuesday for facing charges of death caused by professional negligence.

Lin’s company was responsible for constructing the 17-story Weiguan Jinlong building that collapsed Saturday in Tainan due to earthquake, killing more than three dozen people and injured over 500 residents.

The Tainan District Prosecutors Office made the decision to take them into custody after prosecutors found that Lin, with the help of his partners, had started another company under a different business entity after filing for bankruptcy upon completion of the Weiguan apartment several years ago.

Many people have questioned the integrity of the building and its construction company because the latter has gone out of business. Rumors have since been spread about how Weiguan was built with low quality materials. To everyone’s disbelief, aluminum cans were found within the pillars of the building after it collapsed last Saturday.     [FULL  STORY]

Taiwan News
Date: 2016-02-09
By: Ko Lin, Taiwan News, Staff Writer

Rescue workers on Tuesday pulled out another victim and a young infant from the Weiguan Jinlong rubble after their sniffer dog discovered signs of life under the debris.

But despite 12 hours of intensive efforts to rescue them, both were found dead at precisely 1:45 a.m. According to rescue teams at the scene of the location, the deceased mother was found wrapping her arms around her four-year-old son at the time.

The victims were stranded on the 16th floor of what was previously known as Block F of the apartment complex, which is now laid in ruins as more than 120 people are still left unaccounted for, according to officials.

Their deaths led rescuers to weep in sorrow as their bodies were retrieved from the rubble.     [FULL  STORY]