Search for Tainan quake survivors continues amid hope and despair
Four days after the earthquake 219 people extracted alive from the rubble; 46 confirmed dead; 94 are still missing. Engineer and two employees arrested for having built collapsed complex without the necessary safety standards. Population and security teams dig amid despair and hope.
Tainan (AsiaNews) - "This New Year was to have been a great family celebration but now it is just a great tragedy”, cries a lady of the Sacred Heart parish in Tainan who lost her sister and two nephews in the collapse.
The pastor and other community volunteers have been busily comforting relatives of the victims. Father Joseph Pei (裴 神父), of Vietnamese origin, has only been in Tainan for seven months and is experiencing his first Chinese New Year in this city. Very shaken he says: "Fate has reserved pain for many families and our entire community. We want to be close to family members and friends of the victims, who now feel a sense of hopelessness and despair." Material aid has been pouring in from all over the island: clothing, food and drink. And there are people who are still sending money and clothing in an expression of solidarity with survivors.
Yesterday there were moments of tension during the mayor, Mr. Lai’s press conference. Family members and relatives of those who are believed still trapped, angrily expressed themselves, understandable at a time when hope is diminishing of finding other survivors. Through tears, everyone is calling for rescuers to focus on the destroyed apartments of loved ones.
Yesterday a child of three years was pulled alive from the rubble, and this has rekindled hope in many rescuers. But the use of excavators, to speed up the rescue, is a not an easy decision. If there is too much haste in using excavation machines, without considering possible movement caused by them, there is the danger of damaging the collapsed buildings even more and threatening to crush possible survivors.
Meanwhile, the judges of the Tainan Central District Court have issued a warrant for the arrest for the real estate manager, Mr. Lin and two of his colleagues, responsible for building a complex that collapsed during the February 7 quake.
They also interviewed Mr. Chang, Taiwan’s chief expert in geological engineering and "hero" of the relief in what had been the most tragic Taiwan earthquake, which took place September 21, 1999: "The majority of new buildings are safe, but evidently fragile buildings remain due to neglect in the controls or responsibility to be ascertained. The building in question was built in 1994, and should have followed the next legislative updates to confirm its safety, especially the rules issued after the earthquake of 1999. The fact the quake was a strong one is not a valid excuse".
At the moment the tragedy continues. As this report is published, after 108 hours of work by rescuers, 219 have been pulled alive from under the rubble, 46 are confirmed dead and 94 people are still missing.
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21/06/2021 12:21
