Taiwan: At least 8 killed as earthquake brings down several buildings

At least eight people have been killed in southern Taiwan, after 6.4 magnitude earthquake struck early on Saturday.

Six of the dead, including a 10-day-old girl, were from the Wei-guan Golden Dragon Building in the city of Tainan.

Rescue workers used hydraulic ladders and a crane to scour the ruins of the apartment block. They helped 220 survivors to get out, with dozens of people taken to hospital, according to a fire brigade official.

Rescue efforts were continuing at the Wei-guan Golden Dragon Building as evening fell on Saturday, with five people still believed to be missing.

Questions were being raised about the safety of the building. City officials said it was too soon to determine whether poor construction had been a factor in the collapse.

Guo, a mother of two, was rescued from the block. “Rescue workers broke through (the building) layer by layer. And they asked us to climb out, but I said ‘my children are too small to climb.’ So they dug a bigger hole,” she told reporters.

Buildings in nine other locations in the city of 2 million people had collapsed and five were left tilting at alarming angles, a government emergency centre said.

SOURCE: euronews