10 Feb 2016

Taiwan developer in custody after building collapse

8:35 am on 10 February 2016

A Taiwan court has ruled that the developer of a 17-storey apartment building that collapsed during an earthquake in the city of Tainan be held in custody.

The official death toll from Saturday's collapse is 37 but 103 people are listed as missing.

The Tainan district court said Lin Ming-hui and two members of his management team were being held without bail on suspicion of negligent homicide while prosecutors complete their investigation.

Questions have been raised about the building's construction quality, as it was the only major high-rise in the city of two million people to have completely collapsed.

Witnesses have seen rectangular cooking-oil cans, apparently used as a building material, packed inside wall cavities exposed by the damage.