The fire department and the police cordoned off the alley for rescue.

(Photo by reporter Zhang Ruizhen)

[Reporters Zhang Ruizhen, Xu Guozhen / Taichung Report] In the alleys of the first section of Taiwan Avenue in the Central District of Taichung City, an industrial safety accident occurred this morning. The incident occurred in two old houses on the second floor. The old house on the right (No. 7) started demolition yesterday , Today is an open space. Unexpectedly, when the construction continued today to dig the foundation, the old house on the second floor on the left (No. 5) collapsed. There were 4 construction workers on site, and a 60-year-old worker surnamed Cai lost signs of life. The driver of the strange hand was rescued without any serious problems , until 12:00 noon, there were still two people surnamed Chen and Wu surnamed trapped and rescued.

Including the Taichung City Government, the Fire Department and the police, they are all busy in the rescue. The Fire Department sealed off the entire alley to avoid more serious hazards. There was a gas leak at the scene, but it was quickly ruled out. At present, it is preliminary Investigation, this is an industrial safety accident.

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Zhang Fuxing, the head of the local Guangfu District, said that the collapsed old house No. 5 was built in the Japanese occupation era and has a history of more than a hundred years. It has been renovated continuously in the past century. When No. 7 next door was demolished, the owner suggested that the old house No. 5 be rebuilt together. However, the owner of house No. 5 did not agree, and there were no residents in the old house No. 5 at the time of the incident.

There was a grandmother who seemed to be demented at the scene. She was the grandmother of the currently trapped worker. I don’t know what happened, and the Zhongshi government is currently assisting in the resettlement. The younger brother of the worker rushed to the scene after noon and wanted to dig bricks to rescue his brother. He was very emotional, and was stopped by the police at the scene, and he was taken away from the scene. Emotions can be calmed down.

At present, two workers are trapped on the first basement floor, and rescue is extremely difficult. As for the worker surnamed Cai who has no signs of life, he was squeezed to the wall of the building next door (No. 9) due to the collapse. He was rescued, but there was no sign of life. He is currently in critical condition and is being rescued at Taichung Hospital.

Residents nearby said that at around 10:40, they heard the sound of houses toppling, and someone shouted at the scene, "The house collapsed, and people were crushed, please report to the police." This project was carried out by a construction company, and the victims were all The company's workers and rescuers are still in the process of rescue.

The Taichung City Fire Department preliminarily judged that the collapsed old house was a second-story brick building, not a reinforced concrete building. The brick building is not earthquake-resistant and has a low ability to resist stress changes (such as emptying the bottom). An important factor in the accident.

Firefighters rescued the injured.

(provided by the public)

Firefighters rescued the victim's mother.

(Photo by reporter Liao Yaodong)