Signs of life detected as rescuers dig for Hong Kong couple trapped by Taiwan quake

Signs of life have been detected as a major operation continues on Friday to rescue a Hong Kong couple and five mainland tourists trapped in a partially collapsed building in the Taiwanese city of Hualien.

The seven missing people were staying at the Pretty Baby Inn, a hotel on the first three floors of the Yun Men Tsui Ti building, where seven people died after Tuesday’s magnitude 6.4 quake, Taiwan’s Central Emergency Operation Centre said.

The Hong Kong couple, who are Canadian nationals, were registered at the hotel under the name Peter So. The four adults and one child from mainland China were also guests there.

Taiwanese search and rescue personnel said they had found the initial location of the guests, but rescue efforts had been hampered by the dangerous conditions in the building.

“Search and rescuers have been able to dig to the room the two people were staying in. They discovered signs of life using a detector and have also been able to smell the odour of dead bodies, but have not been able to find the trapped people as of yet,” the emergency centre said on Friday morning.

“The search and rescue process has been slow due to the severe displacement and crushed lower floors of the site, which made the working space very small.”

The team tried to enter Room 201, where the mainland tourists were staying, but were blocked by a major structural beam. They had to change tactics and go down from the third floor starting on Friday morning.

The Hong Kong couple is believed to have stayed on the same floor, in Room 213.

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Hualien, on Taiwan’s eastern coast, was struck by a second, magnitude 5.7, earthquake on Wednesday night after the first major tremor on Tuesday. The city then experienced 15 aftershocks ranging between magnitude 2.9 and 4.1 since Thursday evening.

The death toll has risen to 10, including three mainland Chinese tourists. Some 276 people were injured, while authorities had rescued more than 230 victims and evacuated 800 others as of 7am on Friday, the emergency centre said.

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The 12-storey Yun Men Tsui Ti building was one of four badly damaged structures, with its lower floors having already caved in. It tilted almost 45 degrees after the earthquake and had to be propped up with steel beams.

The centre added that professional structure technicians had been giving assistance and guidance on site during the operation period.

The authorities have dispatched more than 2,000 rescue personnel for the disaster relief operation since Tuesday night.