Survivors pulled from rubble 2 days after Taiwan quake

Rescuers pulled two survivors from the ruins of a collapsed apartment building Monday, two days after the earthquake that rattled southern Taiwan, causing dozens of deaths.

According to the Tainan city government, a man and a woman were rescued from the Wei-guan Golden Dragon Tower, a 17-story building in the city that tipped over from the 6.4-magnitude quake early Saturday.

One man -- identified as 40-year-old Lee Tsong-tian -- was lifted out by crane after rescuers earlier tried to dig him out of the rubble, but were unable to as he was trapped by his leg.

City officials said earlier Monday that all but two of the 37 people known to have died were in that one building and that more than 100 people were still trapped inside.

The woman survivor had been reached after rescuers heard her cries for help - but her husband and two-year-old child were pulled out dead, officials at the site said.

More than 300 people managed to escape or have been rescued from Wei-guan and 12 other damaged structures in Tainan and the surrounding area since the quake struck. About 100 people remained hospitalised on Sunday.

Excavators and other heavy machinery had been ordered to the site on Sunday afternoon to clear away debris faster, but the discovery of survivors prompted rescuers late Sunday to suspend their use.

Before that, rescuers were combing the rubble largely by hand and with smaller machines to avoid destabilizing the wreckage.

The interior minister promised an investigation after search and rescue efforts are completed. He said the building was completed in 1994 and its original contractor and developer were no longer in business.