The Tainan City government in Taiwan is moving to seize an additional AU$9.2 Million in assets and funds belonging to people under investigation in connection with the collapse of the Weiguan Jinlong "Golden Dragon" apartment tower.  The 17-storey building fell over during an earthquake earlier this month, at a cost of 114 lives.

Those targeted for assets seizure include developer Lin Ming-hui and architects Cheng Chin-kuei and Chang Kuei-pao.  The three are among nine people targeted in the city’s original AU$1.26 Million provisional seizure request granted by the Tainan District Court last week, which came after consultations with the victims of the disaster.  ALl three men were detained shortly after the disaster.

Mr. Lin is believed to be the former head of the now-defunct Weiguan Construction which erected the faulty tower.  Officials at Taishin International Bank stopped Mr. Cheng's wife from attempting to withdraw the equivalent of more than AU$421,000 from her husband's account at the bank.

The debris at the scene of the toppled apartment block revealed large rectangular cooking-oil cans packed inside concrete beams, apparently having been used as building material.  Taiwanese media also reported the presence of polystyrene in supporting beams, mixed in with concrete.

Meanwhile, engineering experts attending a forum in Taipei this week have warned that over half of Taiwan's residential buildings put up across the island during the 1980's may have been constructed with the same safety defects, and thus face the possibility of collapse during a strong earthquake.