Criminal charges laid in collapse of building
Print Edition
FIVE people were charged yesterday over the deadly collapse of an apartment block in Taiwan during an earthquake, including the building’s owner, with prosecutors saying “corners were cut” which made the complex dangerous.
The collapse of the Wei-kuan building during the 6.4 magnitude quake in the southern city of Tainan in February left 115 dead.
It was the only high-rise to crumble completely, with questions raised over shoddy building methods.
The building company’s owner, Lin Ming-hui, his design department’s manager, two architects and a structural technician were charged yesterday with negligence leading to death and injury.
“Lin Ming-hui for the purpose of saving architectural blueprint fees and construction costs... went so far as to cut corners and increase floor area ... affecting the structural safety of Wei-kuan building,” Tainan district prosecutors office said in a statement.
A number of reinforcement parts were found to be inadequate in the construction, “significantly reducing the building’s seismic resilience,” the statement said.
“The building collapsed as it couldn’t maintain its structural integrity, causing residents to be trapped, leading to serious harm and deaths as a result,” prosecutors added.
The safety of the building was called into question immediately after the disaster, when metal cans and foam were found to have been used as fillers in the concrete and residents said there had been cracks in the structure.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
