Taipei (dpa) – The number of deaths in the Saturday’s 6.4-magnitude earthquake in Taiwan has risen to 67, with at least 57 people still missing, local media reported late Thursday.
At least 65 people died when the 17-storey Weiguan Jinlong apartment building collapsed in the southern Taiwan city of Tainan
Rescuers search for survivors from a collapsed building following a 6.4 magnitude earthquake that struck the area in Tainan City, Taiwan, 06 February 2016.
The last people found alive after the collapse were pulled from the rubble on Monday. The search and rescue effort was ongoing despite heavy rain in Tainan, which slowed down the task.
A red poodle was rescued Thursday, shivering but otherwise apparently uninjured, news reports said. Two other dogs, a white Maltese and a mixed-breed yellow dog, were rescued Wednesday, local media said.
Three former executives of the company that built the Weiguan residential complex were arrested late Tuesday, amid suspicions that its construction did not meet safety standards.
Taiwan’s Premier Chang San-cheng ordered Wednesday that, on Monday, the first working day after the Lunar New Year holidays, all flags in the nation would fly at half mast to mourn the victims of the earthquake.
