An apartment building in New Taipei City’s Sanchong District (三重) collapsed last night after a nearby construction project earlier in the day allegedly caused it to tilt.
Shortly after work began at 9am on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street (六張街), two neighboring apartment buildings tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said.
The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households.
Photo: Lo Kuo-chia, Taipei Times
After the incident, the city government first filled the building at No. 190, which appeared to be more badly affected, with water to stabilize the groundwater level and then added dirt and cement to stabilize the ground and prevent the neighboring building from tilting further, New Taipei City Deputy Mayor Chu Ti-chih (朱惕之) said.
New Taipei City Fire Department chief Chen Tsung-yueh (陳崇岳) said the excavation of the construction project’s basement had reached more than 6m deep, but that it did not have a continuous foundation.
Measures were taken to stabilize the site at No. 190 and limit any additional tilting of the building, Chen said, but the building was already leaning at an angle that left it no longer inhabitable, prompting the city to evacuate the 22 people living there.
At 8:45pm, the building at No. 184 on the other side of the construction project collapsed.
This story has been amended since it was first published.
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