CATASTROPHIC

40+ Feared Trapped Inside a B&B Left Precariously Leaning by Taiwan Earthquake

At least seven people reportedly killed, 256 injured.

Rescue teams in Taiwan rushed to save people trapped beneath buildings Wednesday after a 6.4-magnitude earthquake hit the tourist city of Hualien, killing at least seven and leaving nearly 80 people missing. Authorities said at least 256 people were injured after the earthquake struck, splitting open roads and toppling buildings. Many of those missing were believed to be trapped inside a 12-story building that houses a bed and breakfast and was left tilting precariously at a sharp angle with the lower floors caved in. Local authorities said 40 of the building’s 213 residents are unaccounted for. “I saw the first floor sink into the ground. Then it sunk and tilted further and the fourth floor became the first floor,” a witness, Lu Chih-son, was quoted as saying by Agence France-Presse. Taiwanese President Tsai Ing-wen, who traveled to the area to oversee rescue efforts, told rescuers “not to give up on any opportunity to save people.”