Magistrate of Taiwan's Hualien announces end of post-quake rescue missions

台灣花蓮縣官員宣布震後救援任務結束

The rescue team retrieved one body from the building on Feb.11, with a single person still listed as missing


TAIPEI (CNA) -- After over 100 hours of search efforts, Hualien's Magistrate Fu Kun-chi declared an end to rescue operations on Sunday morning. After receiving consent from the victim's families, demolition of the partially collapsed buildings began in hopes of retrieving the last two missing bodies.

The rescue team bowed to the partially collapsed Yun Men apartment building and started the demolition process.

The rescue team retrieved one body during the work, while a single person remains listed as missing.

(CNA Image)

On Saturday, rescue workers recovered three bodies from the rubble of the building, all members of the same Chinese family.

The officials finally called off rescue operations on Feb. 11 on the grounds that there was little chance of finding more survivors from the quake.

The death brings the current death toll from the quake to 16 dead, with one still missing and 285 injured, according to the Central Emergency Operation Center.