Rescuers find signs of life after Taiwan earthquake

Anxious families affected by the 6.4 magnitude earthquake which hit the southern Taiwan city of Tainan collapsing a 17-storey building now have cause to be positive about their missing loved ones being rescued in the rubble following news that rescuers on Sunday found signs of life within the remains of the high-rise residential building.

Read also: Taiwan earthquake: Frantic search for missing person underway
According to the emergency centre in Tainan, the worst-hit city, 171 people had been rescued from the building and at least 19 people have been reported dead and more likely to be announced after the powerful shallow earthquake which took residents of southern Taiwan city unawares.

Tainan Mayor Lai Ching-te said that there was an estimated 124 still trapped, with many at the bottom of the wreckage.

One of the affected people, a 60-year-old man who informed that his son escaped the building collapsed and whose daughter-in-law was in a serious state at a nearby hospital says his grandsons were still trapped in the rubble.

“My 11- and 12-year-old grandsons are still inside on the ninth floor,” said the man, who only gave his surname, Huang. “I told my son not to buy an apartment here; it was suspiciously cheap.”

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