Earlier, a legislator who represents the area, told reporters that a woman was found alive lying under her dead husband.
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Tsao’s husband and 2-year-son were found dead, and five other members of the family remained unaccounted for.
The Taipei Times reports, “The bulk of the complex was left lying on its side after the magnitude 6.4 quake hit southern Taiwan at 3:57 a.m. [local time] on Saturday, and it has been the site of most of the casualties from the temblor”.
Blue cans, seen sandwiched between layers of concrete, are visible at the Golden Dragon complex, which collapsed in Saturday’s magnitude-6.4 natural disaster in the southern Taiwanese city of Tainan.
Rescuers scrambled to find survivors Sunday night after an quake toppled buildings in Taiwan, killing at least 26 people, authorities said.
At least 527 people have been injured and many more have lost their homes as the quake also forced the cancellation of trains a day before the island began celebrating Chinese New Year.
Speaking to reporters at a Tainan hospital, outgoing President Ma Ying-jeou said the government needed to do a better job in ensuring building quality.
“Of the 132 people desperately waiting for rescue, 103 people are buried very deep, there’s no way to get to them direct, it’s very hard”, William Lai, the Tainan mayor said.
Two of the trapped, a male and a female at different sides of the building, were talking to rescue workers on Sunday evening, Lai said.
The head of the Central Weather Bureau’s Earthquake Forecast Center said the quake’s devastating effects on Tainan City were due to a combination of geologic factors and structural factors in the city’s buildings.
An army soldier tries to listen to signs of life in a collapsed building from an natural disaster in Tainan.
The spectacular fall of the high-rise, built in 1989, raised questions about its construction. Another infant – a six month old – was pulled out alive with her father’s dead body still hugging her. The baby died later at the hospital.
“We’ve also commissioned three independent bodies to preserve evidence during the rescue so we can assist the residents if they want to file lawsuits in the future”, he said.
The confrimed death toll from the quake has reached 37, of whom 35 were recovered from the Wei-guan building. The government says it will investigate whether the developer cut corners.
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However, Al Jazeera’s Rob McBride said survivors were still being pulled out 12 hours later.
