(Reuters) — People in Taiwan’s southern city of Tainan awoke on the first day of the Lunar New Year on Monday (February 8) to the news that the death toll from Saturday’s (February 6) earthquake had risen to at least 35.
Rescue work continued after a woman was pulled alive from the rubble of a collapsed building on Monday morning and another man was found alive, trapped inside the debris for more than 48 hours after the deadly earthquake struck, officials said.
Mayor William Lai told reporters that the death toll was 33 early Monday, but later reports said that it was now at least 35, with more than 100 people still missing.
The quake struck at about 4 a.m. on Saturday (2000 GMT Friday) at the beginning of the Lunar New Year holiday, with almost all the dead found in the toppled Wei-guan Golden Dragon Building in Tainan city.
Rescuers continued to scramble over the twisted wreckage of the building as numbed family members stood around, waiting for news of missing relatives.
Local residents said that they would be postponing their celebrations for the New Year until the rescue operations were over.
“To be honest, we can still eat the new year’s dinner in a few days. We don’t have to eat the festive dinner (with family) today. We will first help other people and then have the dinner, it doesn’t matter,” said local restaurant owner Fang Yu-Hui.
President-elect Tsai Ing-wen, who won last month’s election last month, said during a visit to Tainan there needed to be a “general sorting out” for old buildings to make sure they were able to cope with disasters like earthquakes.
Outgoing president Ma Ying-jeou is also scheduled to visit during Monday.