Monks pray near a list of the patients near a collapsed building in Tainan, Taiwan, on Feb. 7, 2016. (Photo : Getty Images)
Rescue personnel in Taiwan have recovered the remains of the final victims of the earthquake on Feb. 6, and with a minute’s silence, ended search efforts with a death toll of 116, Shanghai Daily reported on Monday.
All but two of the dead lived in the 16-story Wei-Guan Golden Dragon apartment complex in Tainan, which collapsed when a 6.4 magnitude quake rocked Taiwan's south two weeks ago.
Tainan City Mayor Lai Ching-te on Saturday bowed deeply and thanked rescuers for their efforts, and called for a minute's silence for the victims.
A total of 270 people in the building survived. Of those, 95 were able to escape on their own, while the remaining 175 were rescued from the rubble, according to official data released by the city government.
One person remains unaccounted for, although authorities believe the person to be homeless and was not actually present at the compound at the time of the quake. Local police have reclassified the person's status as missing.
The building's developer Lin Ming-hui and two architects have been arrested on suspicion of negligent homicide following reports that Lin's company cut corners in the building materials.
At the scene of the collapsed building, tin cans could be seen inside the walls while polystyerene was found to be mixed along with the concrete, said Shanghai Daily.
Local authorities said they have begun to evaluate buildings reported by residents to have been damaged by the quake in Tainan.
As of 4 p.m.on Saturday, 120 more buildings had been inspected and were classified as unsuitable for occupation.
In response to the disaster, the mainland China-based Association for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits has established a 5 million yuan ($765,000) fund to aid those affected by the earthquake. The funding was donated to Taiwan's Red Cross Society on Sunday via Taiwan-based Straits Exchange Foundation.
