TAINAN (TVBS News) — An aging three-story building crumbled into rubble early Thursday (May 15) in southern Taiwan, sending emergency crews scrambling to the scene in Tainan's Xinying District (新營區). The structure collapsed shortly after 7 a.m., but authorities confirmed no injuries as the building was vacant. Tainan's Public Works Bureau (工務局), the city's infrastructure oversight agency, identified a neighboring construction site as the potential culprit.
Preliminary findings point to improper excavation practices at the adjacent construction project as the likely trigger for the structural failure. City officials have suspended all work at the construction site pending a thorough investigation into the incident. The Public Works Bureau has indicated it will levy fines under Taiwan's Building Act (建築法), the national construction code, once investigators determine the precise cause of the collapse.
Liberty Times Net (自由時報), a major Taiwanese newspaper, reported that local official Wang Hsien-te (王獻德), who serves as chief of the Minquan Village (民權里), maintains an office near the collapse site. Wang revealed the structure was approximately 60 years old and functioned as an unoccupied warehouse. Both property owners have initiated mediation proceedings. The village chief stressed urgent priorities: debris removal, water drainage, and evaluating potential damage to neighboring infrastructure and homes. ◼
