Survivors pulled out from ‘tin can’ building 2 days after Taiwan quake

Two survivors — one found shielded under the body of her husband — were pulled out alive from a toppled high-rise apartment building on Monday, two days after a powerful quake in southern Taiwan killed at least 37. It was reported that Tsao Wei-ling called out “Here I am” as rescuers dug through to find her. Her husband and 2-year-son were found dead, while five members of her family remained unaccounted for. A male survivor, Lee Tsung-tien, 42, was pulled out conscious from the sixth floor section of the folded 17-storey building. Rescuers have reported the walls of the building appear to have been partly made with tin cans.

It was all topsy-turvy. You couldn’t even tell where the ceiling was.

15-year-old survivor, only identified as Hu

Rescuers also found signs of life from a 28-year-old woman who is a migrant worker and an 8-year-old girl, both conscious but trapped in the fifth-floor section, according to a notice posted at a rescue information center on site. Family members of the missing continued to flood into the information center in search of their loved ones or sit by anxiously. Some of them walked around with green name cards around their necks indicating their missing relative’s name and location in the building. The government in Tainan, the worst-hit city, said that more than 170 people had been rescued from the building, which folded like an accordion after the quake struck.

We will carry on until the last second. The golden 72 hours of rescue is the standard, but there are many exceptions.

Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou

Taiwan