8 year old girl, wife shielded by dead hubby among survivors rescued in Taiwan

Rescuers pulled out an eight year-old girl alive from the rubble of a Taiwan apartment block on Monday more than 60 hours after it was toppled by an earthquake, as the mayor of the southern city of Tainan warned the death toll could exceed 100. 

Two survivors, one found shielded under the body of her husband were pulled out alive from a toppled highrise apartment building, two days after a powerful quake that killed at least 36. Media reports said Tsao Wei-ling called out “Here I am” as rescuers dug through to find her. 

A male survivor was pulled out conscious from the sixth floor section of the folded 17-story building, according to a notice posted at a rescue information center on site. 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. More than 100 people are believed to be still buried in the collapsed building from a disaster that struck during the most important family holiday in the Chinese calendar, the Lunar New Year holiday. 

The government in Tainan, the worst-hit city, said that more than 170 people had been rescued from the 17-story building, which collapsed after the quake struck. The death toll from Saturday’s powerful 6.4-magnitude quake in south Taiwan stood at 36. Thirty-four of those were from the building collapse in Tainan city, and two other people died elsewhere in the city. 

Rescuers said Tsao was found under the body of her husband, who had shielded her from a collapsed beam, Taiwan’s government-run Central News Agency reported. Her husband and 2-year-son were found dead, while five members of her family remained unaccounted for, it said. 

Earthquakes frequently rattle Taiwan, but most are minor, though a magnitude-7.6 quake in central Taiwan in 1999 killed more than 2,300 people.