Space Industry and Business News  
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Taiwan to seize assets of collapsed building developer
by Staff Writers
New Taipei City, Taiwan (AFP) Feb 12, 2016


More than 100 dead in collapsed Taiwan building: rescue agency
Taipei (AFP) Feb 13, 2016 - Rescuers have found the bodies of more than 100 people killed after an appartment block in Taiwan collapsed during an earthquake one week ago, emergency services said on Saturday.

Only three residents of the Wei-kuan complex in the southern city of Tainan remained unaccounted for as emergency services drew close to completing their search, after rescuing hundreds of people from the ruins.

The death toll now stands at 114 with 550 injured, according to the latest count from the National Fire Agency.

More than 280 people have been pulled from of the rubble of the 16-storey building since the 6.4-magnitude quake struck one week ago.

Wei-kuan was the only high-rise in Tainan to crumble completely, prompting questions about the construction of the building, which was completed in 1994.

Prosecutors have taken the developer, Lin Ming-hui, and two of his associates into custody on charges of professional negligence resulting in death over the disaster.

Investigators found flaws in the construction, including a lack of steel reinforcement girders, according to a statement released by the court.

Pictures of the ruins showed tin cans and foam were used as fillers in the concrete and evidence has emerged that walls may have been knocked down that affected the structure of the building.

The Tainan city government won a court ruling Friday to freeze almost a million dollars in assets belonging to Lin and three associates, to prevent anything being disposed of before claims can be made by the victims.

Almost a million dollars in assets belonging to the developer and three associates of a building in Taiwan felled by an earthquake will be seized, a court ruled Friday, with more than 90 residents confirmed dead in the disaster.

Rescuers are still digging through the rubble of the toppled Wei-kuan apartment complex in the southern city of Tainan which collapsed during Saturday's quake -- 30 residents remain missing and the death toll has climbed to 94.

Prosecutors questioning the developer and two others connected with the building have said there were "flaws" in the residential complex, including a lack of steel reinforcement girders.

Pictures of the ruins also showed tin cans and foam were used as fillers in the concrete, exacerbating public anger over the latest safety scandal to hit the island.

Tainan's district court Friday gave the city government the go-ahead to freeze up to Tw$30 million ($908,623) in assets belonging to the building's developer Lin Ming-hui and three associates, according to a government statement.

"The Tainan district court handled it quickly, and granted... provisional seizure up to Tw$30 million of the assets of the related people," the statement said.

It added the move was to prevent the developer and associates from "disposing assets".

Lin and two of the men have been detained on charges of professional negligence resulting in death.

The fourth to have assets seized was a contractor used during the construction of the Wei-kuan building, the only high-rise to crumble completely in the 6.4 magnitude earthquake. He has not been detained.

The Tw$30 million is a preliminary figure to cover the property damages of victims who have already made claims, the Tainan government statement said.

The government has also identified land owned by Lin -- totalling at least 30 plots in Tainan -- and has directed local authorities to prevent any sale of those assets.

Distraught relatives of residents told AFP they had complained over cracks in the walls of the building.

Engineers helping at the rescue site added that some walls many have been knocked down on the ground floor, which housed part of a multi-storey electronics store.

The Wei-kuan building had 96 apartments and was completed in 1994, before a new building code was brought in following a devastating earthquake that left 2,400 people dead in 1999.

The building collapse has struck a nerve with the public, increasingly embittered by a string of disasters, from food safety scandals to a water park explosion that left 15 dead.


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
A world of storm and tempest
When the Earth Quakes






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

Previous Report
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Turkish PM slams 'hypocritical' calls to open borders
The Hague (AFP) Feb 10, 2016
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu on Wednesday slammed as "hypocritical" calls by some countries urging Ankara to open its borders to Syrian refugees while failing to demand Russia halts punishing air strikes. Turkey is under mounting pressure to open its border to people fleeing a Russian-backed assault by the Syrian regime of President Bashar al-Assad in the north of the war-torn coun ... read more


DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Scientists from MIPT gain insights into 'forbidden' chemistry

Some 5,000 years ago, silver mining on the shores of the Aegean Sea

Flow phenomena on solid surfaces

SLAC X-ray laser turns crystal imperfections into better images of important biomolecules

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
ViaSat tapped to provide tactical terminals for Apache helicopters

Harris wins place on military communications contract

General Dynamics MUOS-Manpack radio supports government testing of MUOS network

Raytheon to produce, test Navy Multiband Terminals

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Space Launch System's first flight will launch small Sci-Tech cubesats

Initial launcher assembly clears Ariane 5 for its payload integration process

ILS Proton Successfully Launches Eutelsat 9B for Eutelsat

Pentagon Can't Overcome Its Russian Engines Addiction: McCain

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
China to launch nearly 40 Beidou navigation satellites in five years

45th SW supports Air Force GPS IIF-12 launch aboard an Atlas V

United Launch Alliance launches GPS IIF-12 satellite for U.S. Air Force

Chip enables navigation aids for the visually impaired

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Civil aviation takes first step towards capping carbon emissions

Climate change will slow transatlantic flights: study

F-35 deficiencies raise Pentagon concerns

Boeing selects UTC for U.S. Air Force C-17 landing gear

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
New thin film transistor may lead to flexible devices

Organic crystals allow creating flexible electronic devices

Researchers develop hack-proof RFID chips

Taiwan approves TSMC plans for $3 bn plant in China

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
New Satellite-Based Maps to Aid in Climate Forecasts

Consistency of Earth's magnetic field history surprises scientists

Sentinel-3A fully tanked

Mission teams prepare for critical days

DISASTER MANAGEMENT
India's smog-choked capital to resume car ban in April

Living with contamination: fear and anger in Flint

Romania asks UNESCO to protect planned open-cast goldmine site

Lithium battery catalyst found to harm key soil microorganism









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.