22 evacuated from tilting building near construction site in Sanchong

New Taipei, Jan. 6 (CNA) A construction project in New Taipei's Sanchong District apparently caused a nearby apartment building to tilt Monday morning, leading to the evacuation of 22 residents, according to the local fire department.

Shortly after work began at 9 a.m. on an ongoing excavation of a construction site on Liuzhang Street in the Taipei suburb, a neighboring apartment building tilted and cracked, leading to exterior tiles peeling off, city officials said.

The fire department then dispatched personnel to help evacuate 22 residents from nine households.

After the incident, the city government first filled the site with water to stabilize the groundwater level and then added dirt and cement to stabilize the ground and prevent the neighboring building from tilting further, said Deputy Mayor Chu Ti-chih (朱惕之).

New Taipei City Fire Department chief Chen Tsung-yueh (陳崇岳) told CNA that the excavation of the construction project's basement had reached more than 6-meters deep, but that it did not have a continuous foundation.

Measures were taken to stabilize the site and limit any additional tilting of the building, Chen said, but the building was already leaning at an angle that left it no longer inhabitable, prompting the city to evacuate the 22 people living there.

Meanwhile, the city government on Monday ordered the project's developer and contractor to suspend work and fined each of them NT$90,000 (US$2,738) in accordance with the Building Act.