As rescuers in Taiwan said they had retrieved all the missing from the ruins of a building felled by an earthquake, a tragic picture emerged of the cross-section of society killed in the disaster.
The quake took the lives of 114 in the Wei-kuan apartment complex in the southern city of Tainan, from a 10-day-old baby to a 75-year-old woman.
Among the dead were a security guard, a mother-to-be, and the chair of the building's management committee -- the last body to be pulled from the rubble Saturday.
But it was the young who suffered most -- a third of the victims were under 25-years-old.
Among them was a pair of university students reported to have been found in each other's arms in the rubble.
Tsai Meng-chia and Huang Ro-hsin had been out singing karaoke to celebrate a friend's birthday, returning to Wei-kuan just before the earthquake struck at 4:00 am local time last Saturday, local media said.
Their fate was mentioned in a tribute by Taiwan's president Ma Ying-jeou.
"It's very, very saddening that two 21-year-old lives disappeared, just like that," Ma said.
Although the building housed only 256 registered residents, there were more than 380 there on the night of the quake.
Many had joined their families for the start of the Lunar New Year holidays. Authorities said student tenants would also not have been on the official register.
'I hope they departed quickly'
Relatives told how their families had been all but wiped out by the disaster.
Survivor Lee Tsong-tian, 40, was the only one of eight family members to be pulled out alive after more than 50 hours -- among the last residents to be rescued.
"Out of my family of eight, Tsong-tian was saved," his sister Lee Su-tsu told reporters during a memorial service held for victims Friday.
"I hope they departed quickly without much pain," she said.
Rescuers worked for 20 hours to free Lee, whose leg was trapped in the rubble -- it was later amputated.
The mother of the 10-day-old baby who died told of her last moments with the child. Liu Yi-chen, a 38-year-old nurse, was breast-feeding in bed when the floor of the room caved in.
"The baby fell nearby, I heard her cry but I couldn't reach her," Liu told AFP.
"The baby cried for an hour and then there was no voice."
Liu also lost her husband and two other young children.
As the search operation ended Saturday, the focus now is to clear the rubble and disinfect the site, Tainan's mayor William Lai said.
The building developer and two other associates are under investigation for professional negligence causing death and prosecutors have said the building had a number of flaws, including a lack of steel reinforcement bars.
Public anger has grown as residents told how they had complained of defects in the building and images of the rubble showed concrete had been filled with foam and tin cans.
Wei-kuan was the only high-rise to completely collapse in the 6.4-magnitude quake.
AFP
Sun Feb 14 2016
The quake took the lives of 114 in the Wei-kuan apartment complex in the southern city of Tainan, from a 10-day-old baby to a 75-year-old woman. - File photo
[LAPOR LANGSUNG] Freedom Flotilla to Gaza: Sah! Tiga kapal tetap berlayar, redah laut Mediterranean 24 April ini
FFC mengesahkan tiga kapal yang terlibat dalam misi Break the Siege of Gaza Freedom Flotilla akan memulakan pelayaran pada 24 April depan.
Freedom Flotilla to Gaza: Sah! Tiga kapal tetap berlayar, redah laut Mediterranean 24 April ini
FFC mengesahkan tiga kapal yang terlibat dalam misi Break the Siege of Gaza Freedom Flotilla akan memulakan pelayaran pada 24 April 2024 bersamaan hari Rabu.
SkyTrax: Kedudukan KLIA jatuh ke tangga 71
Kedudukan KLIA kini di tangga ke-71 mengikut Senarai Lapangan Terbang Terbaik Dunia SkyTrax 2024, jatuh empat anak tangga berbanding tahun sebelumnya.
China arahkan Apple keluarkan WhatsApp dan Thread daripada App Store
Kerajaan China mengarahkan Apple untuk mengeluarkan aplikasi Whatsapp dan Threads daripada App store China.
Empat pelari terlibat kontroversi dilucut pingat
Penganjur acara separa maraton Beijing mengumumkan pada Jumaat bahawa empat pelari yang terlibat dalam perlumbaan kontroversi pada Ahad lepas telah dilucutkan pingat, lapor Xinhua.
ASEAN gesa patuhi konsensus lima perkara
Negara-negara anggota ASEAN menzahirkan kebimbangan terhadap ketegangan yang berlaku di Myawaddy, Kayin State yang terletak di sempadan Myanmar-Thailand, serta di Rakhine State, Myanmar.
ASEAN berkata, ia ingin menegaskan semula komitmen untuk membantu Myanmar mencari penyelesaian dengan mewujudkan persekitaran kondusif melalu pelaksanaan penuh Konsensus Lima Perkara yang dipersetujui sebelum ini.
ASEAN berkata, ia ingin menegaskan semula komitmen untuk membantu Myanmar mencari penyelesaian dengan mewujudkan persekitaran kondusif melalu pelaksanaan penuh Konsensus Lima Perkara yang dipersetujui sebelum ini.
Setiap parti politik ada kaedah sendiri – Zahid
Setiap parti politik di dalam Kerajaan Perpaduan mempunyai kaedah sendiri untuk membantu memenangkan calon mereka pada Pilihan Raya Kecil Kuala Kubu Bharu, bulan depan.
Pengerusi Barisan Nasional (BN), Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi berkata demikian ketika diminta mengulas laporan mengenai kenyataan MCA tidak akan berkempen pada PRK itu.
Pengerusi Barisan Nasional (BN), Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi berkata demikian ketika diminta mengulas laporan mengenai kenyataan MCA tidak akan berkempen pada PRK itu.
Masih setia dengan UMNO, kritikan hanya untuk beri semangat
Ahli Majlis Kerja Tertinggi (MKT) UMNO, Tengku Datuk Seri Zafrul Abdul Aziz menegaskan beliau masih setia bersama parti itu meskipun ada mengkritik kepemimpinan UMNO Selangor sebelum ini.
Bekas Bendahari UMNO Selangor itu berkata, kritikan yang dibuatnya sebelum ini adalah berbentuk konstruktif dan hanya ingin membakar semangat parti itu.
Bekas Bendahari UMNO Selangor itu berkata, kritikan yang dibuatnya sebelum ini adalah berbentuk konstruktif dan hanya ingin membakar semangat parti itu.
Titah Addendum: Anwar enggan terlibat, itu bidang kuasa Lembaga Pengampunan dan YDP Agong
Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim tidak mahu terlibat dengan perbincangan membabitkan titah tambahan berhubung tahanan di rumah membabitkan bekas Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
Anwar berkata, ini kerana perkara itu merupakan di bawah bidang kuasa Lembaga Pengampunan Wilayah Persekutuan dan juga melibatkan Yang di-Pertuan Agong dan Raja-Raja Melayu.
Anwar berkata, ini kerana perkara itu merupakan di bawah bidang kuasa Lembaga Pengampunan Wilayah Persekutuan dan juga melibatkan Yang di-Pertuan Agong dan Raja-Raja Melayu.
Giat Mara Bagan Datuk naik taraf jadi kampus MCI
Giat Mara Bagan Datuk telah dinaik taraf menjadi kampus Malaysia-China Institute (MCI) bagi melatih pelajar tempatan di dalam bidang Latihan Teknikal Dan Vokasional Malaysia (TVET) sebelum di hantar ke China.
Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi berkata, sejajar dengan itu, keluasan institusi berkenaan serta fasiliti akan ditambah.
Timbalan Perdana Menteri, Datuk Seri Ahmad Zahid Hamidi berkata, sejajar dengan itu, keluasan institusi berkenaan serta fasiliti akan ditambah.