Braving aftershocks to find bodies

Despite risk, rescuers comb tilting building

Hualien: Taiwanese rescuers braved aftershocks coursing through a dangerously leaning apartment block that was partially toppled by a deadly earthquake, as their search for survivors uncovered three more bodies.

At least 10 people have now been confirmed killed by the 6.4-magnitude quake that struck the popular eastern tourist city of Hualien on Tuesday – five locals, four Chinese mainland nationals and a woman from the Philippines.

But authorities dramatically slashed the number of missing from more than 60 people to seven by yesterday evening – five Chinese mainland nationals and a Canadian-Chinese couple.

Taiwan’s National Fire Agency said yesterday that 272 people were injured.

The powerful tremor left a handful of buildings badly damaged – some of them leaning at precarious angles – as well as roads torn up and hundreds forced to shelter in local schools and a stadium.

The major focus for emergency responders remained the Yun Tsui apartment block which also housed the Beauty Stay Hotel on its lower floors.

Seven of the dead perished in that building and the remaining missing are believed to be hotel guests there.

The lower floors of the 12-storey tower pancaked, leaving the structure leaning at a fifty-degree angle and sparking fears of an imminent collapse.

Despite those risks rescuers kept going into the building in a desperate search for survivors. But yesterday’s search only recovered three bodies – a Chinese mainland tourist, a local hotel worker and the Filipina.

Strong aftershocks continued to strike, sending the teams scurrying from the building, only for them to return a little later and resume their grim task.

Due to the structure’s slant, Taiwanese media said, rescuers struggled with dizziness and vomiting during search efforts.

An emergency responder surnamed Lin said it took 14 hours to free the body of the hotel worker, who was partially trapped between the hotel’s ceiling and floor.

“We saw his hair and were digging for some time,” he said.

All the while they could hear the victim’s mobile phone ringing, he added. The man was later brought out in a white body bag.

A Red Cross worker at the scene estimated that the building had tilted another five per cent overnight, adding he had little hope of survivors being found on its lowest floors.

“Floors one to three are all compressed so it’s hard to tell whether there are people,” he said, requesting anonymity.

He said that there was no risk of a gas explosion in the building.

Residents at temporary shelters set up in Hualien City described the terror of the powerful quake and their immediate worry for loved ones.

Chen Chu-rong, 52, said she wasn’t home when the quake toppled the walls of her building, but her son was and he had to climb down from their second floor unit.

“That fear is still there,” she said. “I’m still afraid because things kept on falling down.” — AFP/AP