TAINAN, Taiwan (Reuters) — Search and rescue teams continued to dig through the rubble of a collapsed apartment complex on Wednesday (February 10) racing against time to find anyone alive.
The building in Tainan collapsed after a strong earthquake struck the south of Taiwan on Saturday (February 6) burying more than a hundred people.
Search teams at the Wei-guan Golden Dragon apartment complex have started relying more on heavy machinery to reach those trapped in the deeper levels of the debris.
In the days just after the collapse when a number of survivors were hauled out of the rubble, search and rescue teams had refrained from breaking larger pieces of the damaged building due to worries that debris may fill the gaps making it more difficult for people to be rescued.
But now, with the chances of survivors growing slimmer, search teams were starting to dig deeper.
Chen Shu-yi, the mother of an 18-year-old boy who was still under the rubble was one of the many family members gathered around the building.
“Yes, I won’t give up. I won’t give up. If it takes five days, or six days — I won’t give up,” she said.
Members of a Buddhist charity organisation prayed in a shelter just outside of the collapsed building.
