TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — When the building in Yuli, Hualien collapsed on top of a mother-daughter pair during Sunday’s (Sept. 18) earthquake, the mother’s phone call to her husband helped rescuers locate them within the rubble.
Per an earlier report, a three-story building collapsed after a series of earthquakes, including one with a magnitude of 6.8 that struck on Sunday afternoon. Four people were buried as a result, and rescuers were able to find and save an elderly couple soon after the disaster.
A 39-year-old woman surnamed Yeh (葉) and her five-year-old daughter, however, remained trapped. Thankfully, they were conscious, and Yeh was able to call her husband on her cell phone for help.
CNA reported that, upon receiving the call, Yeh’s husband rushed to the scene, where first responders were trying to determine the number of people trapped in the building amidst the chaos. He waited and watched as rescuers worked to find his family and continued to speak to Yeh on the phone, comforting her despite his own anxiety.
In an EBC News report, Yeh’s husband could be heard saying that his wife and children were on the brink of being unable to talk. “They’re moving, they’re moving, okay? Just bear with it a little bit longer, relax, relax for now, okay?” he said on the phone.
He could also be heard asking whether rescuers had found them.
Firefighters at the scene were cited as saying that special rescue teams normally locate disaster survivors’ locations by detecting signs of life with equipment, though the task is usually difficult due to the dilemma of having to race against time and refraining from excavating as it may cause more collapses that impede the rescue. In this instance, Yeh’s call to her husband, along with the floor plans of the building, helped rescuers confirm her and her daughter’s location.
(Hualien County Government photo)
Yeh and her daughter were saved after spending about three hours in the rubble. A firefighter told reporters that when rescuers found the two, they were locked in an embrace; local media called the mother a hero for shielding her daughter.
Yeh’s daughter was taken out to safety first. Yeh, who suffered injuries to her limbs and a fractured rib, was later carried out on a stretcher.
In an interview at the hospital with SET News, Yeh said she and her daughter had been on their way home from visiting her elder son. Her daughter said she was hungry, so she rode her scooter to the building to buy something to eat at the 7-Eleven on the first floor.
She said her scooter and her daughter fell to the ground when the earthquake struck. “I rushed to get her up to run, and in an instant, less than 30 seconds, it collapsed.”
Her husband, still visibly agitated, said, “When she called me, I was no longer in the mood to work because I was operating an excavator. While I was making safety preparations, she called.”
Yeh (left) and her husband (second from left) speak to Hualien County Magistrate Hsu Chen-wei at the hospital. (Hualien County Government photo)
