Developer held after deadly quake collapse of ‘tin can’ Taiwan apartment building

Taiwanese authorities have arrested the developer of a building which collapsed, killing 39 people. The developer was arrested on suspicion of negligent homicide, according to local police sources. Pictures emerged of walls filled with large tin cans, adding to the feeling the 17-storey structure collapsed all too easily. A 6.4-magnitude earthquake struck the southern city of Tainan around 4am local time on Saturday. Some 170 people were rescued but the city’s mayor said he expected the number of fatalities to be more than 100.

I want to eat gelatin, ice cream - I want to eat so many things.

Eight-year-old Lin Su-chin, pulled free on Monday

One survivor spoke of how he propped himself against a wall for 20 hours, wedging himself into a space to avoid falling and smothering her. Ko Ching-chung said: “Toward the end, to tell you the truth, I had already given up. 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 lay on top of her, and she said to me it’s OK." Miraculously, rescuers heard the the woman’s voice soon afterwards and the pair were pulled from the rubble.

Taiwan arrest