Taipei, Feb. 10 (CNA) Tainan District Court approved prosecutors' request Tuesday night to detain three executives of a real estate development company that built the Weiguan Jinlong apartment complex, which collapsed in a magnitude 6.4 earthquake three days ago in southern Taiwan.

As part of their investigation into the collapse of the building, prosecutors are seeking the detention of Lin Ming-hui (林明輝), former chairman of the now-defunct Weiguan company, and two other former executives Chang Kui-an (張奎安) and Cheng Chin-kui (鄭進貴), on charges of professional negligence resulting in death.

As of Tuesday evening, the earthquake death toll was 41, with 39 fatalities occurring in the collapsed 16-story residential building in Tainan City's Yongkang District.

About 103 people were believed to be still trapped in the ruins of the building, the city's fire department said.

Jerry-building by the real estate development company is believed to be one of the causes of the collapse.

(By Yeh Tzu-kang, Y.F. Low and Bear Lee; click here for the full coverage of the earthquke aftermath.)