Taiwan | Prosecutors charge five builders in earthquake deaths
Emergency rescue teams search for victims in a collapsed building from an early morning earthquake in Tainan, Taiwan, on Feb. 6, 2016
Prosecutors in Taiwan are charging five builders with negligence after an apartment building collapsed during a February earthquake, killing 115 people.
The Tainan district prosecutor’s office said yesterday the building’s developer, Lin Ming-
hui, along with three employees of his Weiguan construction company and an outside consultant have been charged with professional negligence resulting in death.
Investigators said in a statement that Weiguan expanded the 17-story building’s floor plan without increasing reinforcements and used inferior steel supports, resulting in a structure with 44 percent less load-
bearing capacity than required.
The Weiguan Golden Dragon tower was the only building to collapse during the magnitutde-6.4 quake that struck the southern city of Tainan. Earthquakes frequently hit Taiwan but usually cause little damage due to stringent building regulations passed after a devastating 1999 quake. AP
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