Tsai Meng-chia and his girlfriend Huang Ruo-hsin, both just 21, died in the rubbleWith rescue operations into their fifth day since the quake struck on Chinese New Year’s Eve, the couple were found dead in each other’s embrace as they were buried by rubble from a collapsing building.
The bodies of Tsai Meng-chia and his girlfriend Huang Ruo-hsin, both just 21, were found by rescuers on what used to be the 15th storey of the Weiguan Jinlong residential building, which collapsed after the magnitude 6.4 earthquake struck Taiwan’s south-western Tainan City. The couple had been known by their friends to have a loving relationship Over 55 people have already died from the devastating earthquakeThe pair are now amongst the 55 people confirmed dead by Taiwan’s National Fire Agency, while more than 80 are still believed to be trapped in the rubble of the 16-storey complex.
Tsai and Huang, who both attended Tainan’s Kun Shan University, studying electrical engineering and fashion design, respectively, had been known by their friends as having a loving relationship. Rescue operations are underway to rescue trapped peopleCEN A distraught Taiwanese lady at the site of a building collapseTaiwanese media reported that Tsai most likely "protected" Huang with his own body as their building crumbled under the force of the quake, which has claimed the most number of lives in Taiwan since a magnitude 7.3 earthquake hit central Nantou County on September 21, 1999, in which 2,415 people were killed and more than 11,000 were injured.
The heart-breaking images of the couple’s bodies being removed from the rubble have also strengthened public resolve to see the former contractors of the Weiguan Jinlong building punished for allegedly using sub-standard material including tin cans during the construction of the building.
Three arrests have been made so far, with authorities detaining the former developer, as well as two executives of the construction company.
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